
Class. 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




I K'f/S' 

_ ■NffliiEniCoHY. 



HALE'S FALLS, GRAYSON CO., VA. 

(P. 308.) 



RESOURCES 



South-west Virginia 



SHOWING THE 



MINERAL DEPOSITS OP IRON, COAL, ZINC, 
COPPER AND LEAD. 



ALSO, 



THE STAPLES OF THE VARIOUS COUNTIES, METHODS OF TRANS- 
PORTATION, ACCESS, Etc. 



ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS PLATES AND LARGE COLORED MAP 

REPRESENTING THE GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND 

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTRY. 



C. R. BOYD, E. M., 

Member of Am. Soc. op Civil Engineers, and of the Institute of Mining Engineers. 









NEW YORK : 

JOHN WILEY & SONS, 
15 Astor Place. 

1881 



4-0 /. 



COPYRIOHT, 

1881, 
By JOHN WILEY & SONS. 



; 



I. J. LITTLE & CO., PRINTERS, 
TO 20 ASTOR PLACE. 



Contents. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

PAGE 

Geology 3 

Brush Creek— Gold Bearing Rocks 6 

Brown Iron Ore 8 

The Valley of Blacksburg 10 

Blacksburg College 12 

The Millstone Grit 17 

Poverty Valley and Gap Mountain 17 

Mineral Springs 18 

Dr. Genth's Analysis '. 18 

The Montgomery White Sulphur Springs 21 

The Yellow Sulphur Springs 21 

Towns and Villages 23 

Blacksburg 24 

Central Depot 24 

Alleghany Station 25 

Big Spring 25 

Lafayette 25 

Public Schools 25 

Production of Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, Corn, and Tobacco 26 

Timber 20 

Water Power 27 

Grape Culture 27 

Bee Culture 27 

Fish Culture 28 

PULASKI COUNTY. 

How Watered 30 

Description of Section 31 

Iron Ores 33 

Red Iron Ore 37 

Iron Carbonate 37 

Manganese Ores 37 

Coal 38 

V 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGS 

Lead and Zinc 40 

Silver 40 

Limestone 42 

Building Stones 42 

Mineral Springs 42 

Timber 42 

Water Power 43 

Manufactures 43 

Agriculture 44 

Scenery 44 

Fruits 44 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, and Tobacco 45 

Lines of Transportation 45 

Towns and Villages 45 

Public Schools 46 

WYTHE COUNTY. 

How Bounded 48 

How Watered 49 

Geological 49 

Coal 53 

Iron — Brown Iron Ore 55 

Analysis by J. Blodgett Britton 56 

The Second Horizon of Brown Ores 57 

Sir Robert Mallet on Volcanic Energy 59 

The Brown Iron Ores and Manganiferous Ores of Lick and Draper's 

Mountains 66 

Red Iron Ores 69 

Magnetic Iron Ore 70 

Sulphureted Iron Ores 70 

Manganese 71 

Lead and Zinc 71 

The Furnace and Works of the Wythe Lead and Zinc Mines Company. . . 74 

Copper 75 

Gypsum 76 

Marble 76 

Barytes 77 

Kaolin 77 

Timber and Charcoal 78 

Agriculture 78 

Manufactures 79 

Scenery, etc 80 

Scenery, Mineral Springs, etc 81 

Wytheville 82 

Lines of Transportation 83 

Fish Culture 84 

Production of Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, Pig Metal, Lead, and Zinc Ore 84 



CONTENTS. Vll 

PAGE 

Quotation from Howard Shriver, A.M., of Wytheville, on the Flora and 

Climate of Wythe County 84 

Rain-fall ; and Averages for Month and Year 87 

Monthly Average Temperature and General Averages for Month and Year 87 

Maxima and Minima of Thermometer 88 

Range of Barometer 89 

Monthly Averages 89 

Furnaces and Forges in Wythe County, Virginia— All Cold-Blast Char- 
coal 89 

SMYTH COUNTY. 

How Bounded 93 

How Watered 93 

Geological 93 

Iron Ores 94 

Red Iron Ore 99 

Magnetic Iron Ore 100 

Iron Pyrites 100 

Copper 100 

Lead and Zinc . . 101 

Salt and Gypsum, or Plaster 101 

Gypsum 104 

Barytes 108 

Marble 109 

Kaolin 109 

Timber 109 

Water Power 110 

Agriculture 110 

Scenery Ill 

Mineral Springs 112 

Manufactures 113 

Furnaces and Forges 113 

Lines of Transportation 114 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, Corn, etc 115 

Education 115 

Towns and Villages 116 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

How Bounded 118 

How Watered 118 

Geological 118 

Iron 119 

Red Iron Ores 120 

Magnetic Iron Ores or Semi-Magnetic Red Ores 120 

Copper 121 

Lead and Zinc 121 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Plaster and Salt 121 

Marble 122 

Barytes 123 

Timber 123 

Water Power 123 

Agriculture 124 

Tobacco Culture 125 

Mineral Springs 125 

Washington Springs 126 

Scenery 126 

Manufactures 127 

Furnaces and Forges 128 

Towns and Villages 129 

Bristol 129 

Glade Spring 130 

Buena Vista 130 

Emory 131 

Lines of Transportation 131 

Fish Cul ture 131 

Annual Surplus of Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, Corn, Tobacco, etc 132 

Education 132 

Emory and Henry College 133 

Martha Washington College 133 

Stonewall Jackson Female Institute 134 

GILES COUNTY. 

How Bounded 135 

How Watered 136 

Notable Physical Features 136 

Section through Giles County 137 

Geology 138 

Iron Ores 140 

Fossil Red Iron Ore 142 

East River Mountain Ore 143 

Flat Top Mountain Ore. (Fossil Red.) 143 

Brown Iron Ores 144 

Manganese 147 

Analysis of Manganese Ore 147 

Copper 148 

Lead and Zinc 148 

Silver 149 

Limestone 149 

Marble 150 

Timber 150 

Agriculture 151 

Fmits 152 

Grapes 152 



CONTENTS. is 

PAGE 

Bee Culture 152 

Mineral Springs and Watering-Places 153 

Scenery 153 

Trade 155 

Manufactures 155 

Schools 156 

Fish Culture 156 

Towns, etc 156 

Transportation Lines 157 

BLAND COUNTY. 

How Bounded 158 

How Watered 158 

Geology 159 

Iron Ores 163 

Red Ores 163 

Manganese 164 

Coal 165 

Lead and Zinc 165 

Barytes 166 

Building Stones 166 

Mineral Springs 166 

Timber 167 

Water Powers 167 

Manufactures 168 

Agriculture 168 

Scenery 168 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, Wool, Wheat, and Corn 169 

Lines of Transportation , 169 

Towns and Villages 169 

Public Schools 170 

TAZEWELL COUNTY. 

How Bounded 171 

How Watered 171 

Geology 172 

Iron Ores 172 

Tazewell County 173 

Red Iron Ores 176 

Iron Pyrites 177 

Manganese 178 

Coal 178 

Lead and Zinc 180 

Barytes 181 

Copper 181 

Salt 181 



X CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Building Stones '. 181 

Soapstone 182 

Marble 182 

Mineral Springs 182 

Timber 183 

Water Power 184 

Manufactures 185 

Agriculture 185 

Scenery 187 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, Wool, Wheat, Corn, and Tobacco 189 

Towns and Villages 1 89 

Public Schools 190 



RUSSELL COUNTY. 

How Bounded 190 

How Watered 191 

Geology of Russell 191 

Section through Russell County 193 

Iron Ores 194 

Coal 195 

Lead and Zinc 196 

Barytes 196 

Copper Ore 196 

Salt 196 

Limestone 196 

Building Stones 197 

Marble 197 

Mineral Springs 197 

Timber 197 

Water Power 198 

Manufactures 198 

Agriculture 198 

Scenery 199 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, and Corn 200 

Lines of Transportation 200 

Towns and Villages 201 

Public Schools 201 

SCOTT COUNTY. 

How Bounded 202 

How Watered 202 

Geological 202 

Cross Section in Eastern End of Scott County 203 

Cross Section West End of Scott County 203 

Coal 204 

Iron Ores — Fossil or Red Ore 204 



CONTENTS. XI 

PAGE 

Brown Ores 205 

Manganese 206 

Lead 206 

Salt 206, 

Marble 207 

Barytes 207 

FireClay 207 

Water Power 207 

Timber 208 

Agriculture 208 

Mineral Springs 208 

Scenery 209 

Manufactures, Furnaces, and Forges 210 

Lines of Transportation 211 

Annual Surplus of Cattle, Sheep, Horses, Mules, and Wheat 211 

Principal Towns, etc 212 

Education 212 

LEE COUNTY. 

How Bounded 214 

How Watered 214 

Coal 214 

Iron Ores — Fossil Red Ores 216 

Two Sections taken within two miles of North Fork Gap (or Pennington's 

Gap), showing the Fossil Red Iron Ore of Lee County 217 

Brown Iron Ore 218 

Lead and Zinc 218 

Limestone 218 

Barytes 219 

Kaolin 219 

Timber 219 

Water Power 220 

Agriculture 220 

Scenery 220 

Archaeology 221 

Manufactures 221 

Pennington's Forge 222 

Lines of Transportation 222 

Fish Culture 223 

Annual Surplus of Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, etc 223 

Education 224 

WISE COUNTY. 

How Bounded 225 

How Watered 225 

Iron Ores 226 



Xll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Cross Section at Big Stone Gap, Wise County 227 

Coal 228 

The Iron Ores 235 

Limestone 238 

General Summary of the Resources 239 

Lead 243 

Silver 243 

Building Stones 243 

Timber 244 

Agriculture 244 

Manufactures 245 

Schools 245 

Trade in Cattle, etc 246 

DICKENSON COUNTY. 246 

BUCHANAN COUNTY. 

How Bounded 247 

How Watered 247 

Geology 248 

Iron Ores 249 

Coal 249 

Vertical Section-Con way Creek 250 

Salt 251 

Building Stones 252 

Timber 252 

Water Power 252 

Agriculture 253 

Scenery 253 

Trade in Cattle and Sheep 254 

Lines of Transportation 254 

Towns and Villages 254 

Public Schools 254 

FLOYD COUNTY. 

Section through Floyd County 256 

Gold 261 

Agricultural Features 263 

Annual Shipments over and above Home Consumption of Several Pro- 
ducts 264 

Timber 265 

Water Power 265 

Fruit 265 

Fish Culture 265 

Bee Culture 266 

Towns and Villages 266 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

PAGE 

Public Schools 266 

Scenery 267 

Puncheon Run Falls 267 

CARROLL COUNTY. 

How Bounded 269 

Section through Carroll County 270 

How Watered 271 

Geological 271 

Specular Ores 275 

Magnetite 275 

Iron Pyrites 276 

Copper Ore 276 

Native Copper 277 

The Peach Bottom Lode 278 

Northern Lode 279 

A Table of Analysis upon Samples of Ore Obtained from the Different 

Shafts and Openings upon the Property of this Company 289 

Gold and Silver 289 

Mica .* 290 

Building Stones 290 

Mineral Springs 290 

Timber 291 

Water Power 291 

Manufactures 292 

Agriculture 292 

Scenery 293 

Fruits 293 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, etc 294 

Lines of Transportation 294 

Towns and villages 294 

GRAYSON COUNTY. 

How Bounded 295 

How Watered 296 

Geological 296 

Section through Grayson County 297 

Iron Ores 299 

Iron Pyrites 301 

Manganese 303 

Lead 303 

Copper 303 

Gold 304 

Silver 304 

Limestone 305 

Felspar 305 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Granite and Syenite 305 

Asbestos 306 

Soapstone 306 

Timber 306 

Water Power 306 

Manufactures 307 

Agriculture 307 

Scenery 308 

Fruits 309 

Trade in Cattle, Sheep, Wheat, Corn, and Tobacco 309 

Towns and Villages 310 

ASHE COUNTY, N. C. 

How Watered 312 

Geological 312 

Copper. 313 

Copper, Gold, and Silver 315 

Iron Ore 317 

Mica 318 

Kaolin..... 318 

Talc 319 

Timber and Charcoal 319 



ALLEGHANY COUNTY, N. C. 

The Counties of Southwestern Virginia 320 

Census Items 321 



EESOUEOES 



OF 



Southwest Virginia. 



It is hoped by the writer that the matter contained in this 
book will be a sufficient apology for its appearance. Not that 
he is, by this means, trying to forestall criticism upon the 
manner in which the subjects are handled. No doubt a 
much more beautiful structure could be built of the same 
materials by more skillful hands, but now is the time when 
the general public desire to be informed about these most 
lavish and bountiful resources of this section of Virginia ; 
and if the more competent heads and hands will not under- 
take a work which, if even tolerably well done, would be alike 
gratefully received by a progressive public and a needy State, 
why some one must do it who may barely have nothing more 
than a love of his country to urge him to the task. 

The great and crying need of Virginia now is not so much 
the continuance of a suicidal strife over an issue already 
determined by the highest law and usage, but that we should 
forget all animosities, and labor together to build up and 
largely enhance the financial power of such communities 
in the State as are capable of further development. This can 
be done by showing up our resources in a proper manner ; 
thus bringing in many men of capital to willingly help us 
not only bear our burdens, but create new facilities for mak- 
ing money, in the erection of furnaces, etc., and in the build- 



y RESOURCES OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. 

ing of new lines of railway. It is not any attempt at proph- 
ecy to say that the financial power of Southwestern Vir- 
ginia and of the James River Valley in ten years will be in- 
creased thirty-three per cent. If we of this section can con- 
tribute anything to hasten the good time, why then let us 
do it. The facts truthfully stated, a picture or two here and 
there of the fine scenery, a measurement now and then of the 
vast mineral veins and lodes with which Nature has so lav- 
ishly blessed this country, and an earnest endeavor to bury 
self a little while, and resurrect the country, will do the work 
for us. 

This work, then, upon the resources of a section so rich 
naturally, needs no introduction, other than an apology for 
the great imperfections which must mark an attempt to treat 
so important a subject in a manner it deserves. 

Some of the dear friends of the writer desire that he will 
use the occasion to express his views upon the great question 
which is said to have such a bearing upon the speedy devel- 
opment of the massive resources described in this volume : 
namely, that of the tariff ; but he begs to defer such a dis- 
cussion to a more suitable occasion. Likewise it has been 
contended that the great purity and excellence of the ores of 
iron described, and cheap and abundant fuel, mark the sec- 
tion as the one to which the attention of government officials 
should be timely directed, in anticipation of the great efforts 
likely to be made to bring up the naval armament of the 
country to a condition of high efficiency ; but, though it is to 
be regretted that such friends will be disappointed here, the 
writer begs to submit the impropriety of loading the book 
with arguments and opinions that would obscure a clear view 
of the subjects treated, besides creating prejudices in ad- 
vance against the territory described, that would remand 
both the noble area thus treated and the writer, to a last- 
ing want of appreciation. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. — GEOLOGY. 3 

MONTGOMEEY COUNTY. 

It may be of interest, before going into a description of 
Montgomery County as it now looks on the map, to revert to 
its earlier history, speaking of its origin. 

Augusta County, which once contained all that there is 
now of Southwest Virginia, was created in 1738 from Orange 
County, a scope of country which comprised not only the 
territory that this book treats of in Virginia, but the whole 
of the State of Kentucky. Bottetourt County came next, 
being taken out of " West Augusta ; " and then, in 1772, 
Fincastle County was formed, covering our ground. A short 
time after, in 1776, the county of Fincastle was extinguished 
by the formation of Washington, llontg ornery, and Kentucky 
counties, the last comprising the present State of Kentucky. 

It is needless to remind many of the readers of this book, 
that General Washington, when he spoke of the possibility of 
having to retreat to the mountains of " West Augusta," al- 
luded to the chains of mountains which pass through the 
heart of Southwestern Virginia. 

Montgomery, shorn of much of its original territory by the 
formation of several new counties^n every side, may be said, 
now, to lie between the crest of the Gap or Walker's Moun- 
tain on the north, and Laurel Eidge and Bent Mountain on 
the south ; bounded west, practically, by New and Little 
Rivers, and east by no very marked geological data, running 
parallel with the line between it and Roanoke County. 

Geology. 

The geology of the county is comprised between the 
Huronian rocks, lying on the south, and the proto- carbon- 
iferous measures toward the north side, inclusive. 

The classification of the rocks and the divisions between 
different epochs are more or less easily defined, with the ex- 



4 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. — GEOLOGY. 

ception of some of the limestones in the valleys. These great 
masses of limestones, which are, very frequently, indiscrimi- 
nately assigned to the Trenton sub-epoch, are almost totally 
without fossils of any kind ; and, but for their known rela- 
tion to very correctly determined data, might as well be as- 
signed to the Eozoic as any other period, so far as fossils are 
concerned. They lie conformably above the rocks showing 
that well-known fossil the scolithus, and do really belong to 
the Calciferous sub-epoch, which throughout this part of 
Virginia is very thick ; and in it mainly repose the thickest 
and most valuable deposits of brown iron, zinc, and lead 
ores, of which this volume is likely to speak : though it is 
by no means, to be understood that any invidious distinction 
is being attempted, in advance, against the fine brown ores in 
Numbers VII. and VIII. to be found in the Gap Mountain. 
It is not here assumed that there are no Trenton limestones 
in this section of Virginia ! The remarks above apply to the 
main body of the limestones in this southwestern extension 
of the Great Valley of Virginia. Underlying the north base 
of some of the larger mountains, the Trenton is very well 
represented. 

The cross section on the opposite page, twenty-two miles 
in length, which has been taken across the county from south 
to north, may lead to a much clearer comprehension of its 
geology. It will be seen from an examination of it that 
the Huronian strata, as well as the neighboring rocks of the 
Potsdam and lower part of the Calciferous, have been slightly 
overturned toward the north, or partially reversed in their 
true order. Next to these, going north, are the great lime- 
stones of the Calciferous, carrying us over the great iron, 
lead, and zinc beds. Proceeding northward over a repetition 
of the broken Calciferous, crossing the line of the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, a great fault is encountered, 
which repeats itself several times in Southwestern Virginia. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. — GEOLOGY. 



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^ndeter" 



Gap or, WalkertZMbittifaim 

Poverty VaUetf 
a Brush Mountain \ 

Toms Creek 
Valley of' Etaeksbufg 
Stroubles Creek- 
Prices Mountain 



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Atlantic. Miss,& 
Ohio R.K.. 



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BrushJJredt 
Laurel Ridge, 



6 MONTGOMERY CO. — GOLD-BEARING ROCKS. 

That is, we have the rocks of the Calciferous brought up into 
contact with a downthrow of the proto-carboniferous, or lower 
coal rocks. Passing this fault, the measures holding the 
Price's Mountain coal are soon encountered, lying in the shape 
of an anticlinal ; then the limestones of the beautiful valley, 
watered by Tom's Creek and Strouble's Creek principally ; 
then the Brush Mountain coal measures. After which the 
Olean conglomerate, underlaid by a great width of slates, 
shales, and sandstones, through the entire upper petroleum 
rocks, upturned and visible. Then reaching the base of Gap 
Mountain, the Marcellus black slates and shales, under- 
laid by occasional beds of the Corniferous, the Oriskany, the 
lower Helderberg, the Clinton, and the Oneida last. These 
last mentioned of the Upper Silurian, outcropping almost in- 
variably on the southern slope of the mountain, dip at angles 
varying between 60° and 30° southwardly. 

BRUSH CREEK. — GOLD-BEARING ROCKS. 

The south side of the county is marked, as we have 
seen, by Huronian strata. These rocks, mainly micaceous, 
felspathic, and chloritic, banded here and thlre with heavy 
dikes of quartz, trend N. E. and S. "W. the length of the 
county on that side. The decomposition of these rocks 
through many ages has not only left a good soil along the 
valley of Brush Creek, but now the people of that region are 
somewhat excited over the gold which is being found along 
the streams. "Whether any distinct stratum exists with well- 
marked veins of the precious metal has not yet been so fully 
determined as desired. The washings so far show the gravel, 
etc., to yield about 33 pennyweights to the hand per day, 
with rude sluice boxes. These same strata cross the South 
Fork of Koanoke River, about the line between Mont- 
gomery and Floyd Counties, and ought there, in the deeper 



MONTGOMERY CO. — GOLD-BEAKING KOCKS. 7 

gorges, to yield more heavily than anywhere else. To speak 
more to the point, by looking at the general map accom- 
panying, Pilot House will be found on the southern side of 
the county of Montgomery on Brush Creek. Three miles 
east of Pilot House, more gold has been washed from the 
gravel and other detritus than at any other point. The gold 
has been found in surface washings over an extent of country 
six to eight miles wide, chiefly in quartz dikes in mica slates 
alternating with granite which is occasionally porphyri- 
tic. The dip of the rocks is north here, but on the south 
side of Laurel Eidge the dip is the other way. Gold 
has been found in very handsome quantities on Laurel 
Creek. 

The rock ledges near Pilot House are granitic next to 
Pilot Mountain ; near the foot of this mountain, next to 
Brush Creek, hydro-mica slates come in, showing here and 
there ledges of quartz, one of which, from six to twelve feet 
thick, holds the most of the much-talked-of gold of Brush 
Creek. Then south of this are the hydro-mica, chloritic, and 
schistose bands, which are again repeated in Laurel Kidge, 
giving the gold again. Then again on Laurel Creek in Floyd 
County. 

A large vein of pyrites, containing copper, exists undevel- 
oped in this valley, as well as lead ore. Occasional frag- 
ments of magnetite are also found. Next to the north is 
Pilot Mountain, the eastern prolongation of Iron Mountain, 
occupying the line of junction between the Huronian and 
Cambrian rocks, that is between the metamorphic and more 
distinctly fossiliferous, such as the Potsdam. 

This mountain is cut off just east of the prominent and 
well-known peak called Fisher's View, by the south fork of 
Roanoke Biver, and rises again farther east in a series of 
high and steep spurs known as Poor and Bent Mountains. 
In the northern escarpment of this range is the division be- 



8 MONTGOMERY CO. — BROWN IRON ORE. 

tween the Potsdam and calciferous sub-epochs, marked by a 
vein of 

BROWN IRON ORE, 

trend N. E., from 15 to 30, and sometimes 100 feet thick — 
a decomposition of pyrites. Here and there, owing to end 
compressions and side flexures, this vein assumes a much 
greater thickness. For instance, a flexure in the Big Bend 
of Little Eiver, near Elliott's, caused the vein to have a 
measure through a hill of about 300 feet. This mass will 
yield about 400,000 tons of ore in 375 feet length, above 
water level. 

To attempt to estimate the quantity this vein the whole 
length of twenty miles in the county would yield, would be 
absurd. Above water level it would give a breast of several 
hundred feet elevation, approaching the perpendicular in 
attitude. Near Tice's Mill, South Fork of Roanoke River, 
the comparatively deep gorge takes us down below the de- 
composed zone, and you find the vein of pyrites nearly 100 
feet thick. 

In many places this great vein is charged with manganese 
to such an extent as to render the iron made from it very 
hard. Here and there it is phosphoretic ; but as an ore for 
general purposes, to be mixed with other ores, it is very 
good. Now and then it assumes the form of pipe ore in some 
of the hills, becoming stalactitic and mamillary in form, 
and these ores usually are among the best in the great Iron 
Belt. 

In other sections there are generally two iron veins of 
lesser thickness between the one just described and the 
measures holding the lead and zinc, but in this county they 
are not so distinct. The lead and zinc are not more than 900 
yards, across alternate strata of red and gray shales and 
limestones, northwardly from the great iron vein in Mont- 



MONTGOMERY CO. — BROWN IRON ORE. 9 

gomery County. Beginning at Calfee's in Little River Dis- 
trict, and continuing northeastwardly through the mine 
opened by Col. Langhorne of Shawsville, are here and there 
interesting exposures of the vein. Proceeding on eastwardly 
toward Big Spring, the exact locality of the vein is lost un- 
der the great amount of debris in the foot hills of the higher 
mountains. At Calfee's and at Colonel Langhorne's the ex- 
posures made show the vein to be nearly on its edge, be- 
tween walls of limestone from 9 to 12 feet thick, and yielding 
very handsome specimens of lead sulphuret and zinc blende 
and carbonate. 

After leaving this measure, going northwardly, you pass 
across several hundred yards of Calciferous red slates and 
shales and magnesian rocks ; the reds now and then giving 
fine crystals of specular red iron ore. From the decomposi- 
tion of these rocks must result a great part of the irregular 
deposits found in different parts of the limestone valley 
farther down and somewhat north. 

The limestones toward the middle N. E. and S. W. belt of 
Montgomery are so well known as the limestones of the 
Great Valley of Virginia as not to require any great amount 
of description. In them occur beds and deposits of brown 
iron ores. In one series about three miles south of the At- 
lantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, which runs east and 
west through the middle of the county, there are surface 
indications of magnetic ore. It has not yet been developed. 
Just south of this line is a series of easily decomposed 
limestones, running the length of the county, from which has 
resulted a great deal of crystalline lime carbonate, some- 
times having the appearance and texture of Mexican onyx. 

North of the line of the A. M. and O. R. R.* the fault is 
soon encountered which separates the great valley lime- 
stones from the coal rocks of the western end of the county 

* Since the book has been in press, this road has passed into the hands of 
the " Norfolk and Western Railroad." 



10 MONTGOMERY CO. — THE VALLEY OF BLACKSBUEG. 

and from the Devonian limestones, slates, shales, etc., of 
the eastern end, which correspond in position to the coal 
rocks. 

In this line of Devonian Rocks occur the celebrated 
springs of Montgomery, with the exception of Alleghany 
Springs, which are situated at the base of the mountains, 
holding the earlier formations, on the south side of the 
above-named railroad. Of all these mention will be made 
in detail presently. 

The coal rocks, which begin to show in the southern spurs 
of Price's Mountain, three miles N. W. of Christiansburg, on 
the lands of Kyle and others, belong to the earlier sub-car- 
boniferous, or proto-carboniferous ; and, for that side of 
Price's Mountain, while here and there sufficiently regular to 
yield a good return for mining, it is not until you reach the 
northern escarpment of this mountain and the southern side 
of Brush Mountain, inclosing the valley of Blacksburg, that 
you reach the better areas. 

THE VALLEY OF BLACKSBURG. 

Among the mere exhibitions of beautiful landscape scenery, 
presented so frequently to the eye in traveling over South- 
west Virginia, perhaps no scope of the whole extent will so 
forcibly remind the beholder of a fine English landscape as 
the valley of Blacksburg : swelling and undulating grassy 
meadows and grain fields, relieved by occasional extensive 
areas of woodland, in which the oak almost invariably out- 
numbers all other trees put together; numerous streams, 
flowing from springs in the limestone, sometimes so bold as 
to afford power sufficient to run a grist-mill within a few 
hundred yards of the source ; mountain chains, on the north 
and south, with its western limits defined by a broad and 
beautiful river. 



MONTGOMERY CO. — THE VALLEY OF BLACKSBURG. 



11 



Olean 
o. Conglomerate 




12 MONTGOMERY CO. — BLACKSBURG COLLEGE. 
BLACKSBURG COLLEGE. 

In this valley, near its eastern side, are the town of Blacks- 
burg, and that State institution of learning known as " The 
Agricultural and Mechanical College." The reader, it is 
hoped, will excuse us for a moment, if we delay the discus- 
sion of the geology of this remarkable section, in order to 
say a word concerning Blacksburg College. This college, 
erected by the State at a time when her financial embarrass- 
ments were such as to render it impossible for her to put 
enough money into it to either complete it in a manner to 
meet the objects for which it was organized, or to maintain 
it properly when so built, has practically proven the grave 
of an estimable faculty. Without wasting more time uj)on 
the discussion of disagreeable matters, it is a question 
whether or not it would be advisable for the State to con- 
sider the propriety of turning this college into an asylum of 
some sort — an institution which she has also been trying to 
secure — to be located in that part of the State ; and then, 
taking advantage of the fact that Emory and Henry College 
owes the State a large sum of money, to buy out that institu- 
tion with this debt and the proceeds of the sale of the State 
farm at Blacksburg ; thus not only securing the admirable 
grounds and buildings of Emory and Henry College, but 
rendering it possible to make up such a faculty out of the 
two schools combined as will make an entire success, as a 
whole, out of the two, whose hope of a successful future 
apart is entirely chimerical. 

If such a solution is possible, Blacksburg and vicinity in 
the matter of dollars and cents must be gainers by the 
change. The overcrowded condition of the asylums in dif- 
ferent parts of the State would render it necessary to send 
more persons there to consume the produce of the surround- 
ing country than they now have to supply at the college, or 



MONTGOMEKY CO. — BLACKBSUKG COLLEGE. 13 

are likely to have for many years to come. On the other 
hand, Emory being now brought down in the number of its 
students by the erection of Yanderbilt University and other 
colleges west, after becoming a State institution, under this 
plan, would have a great accession in numbers in the State 
students, as well as many others attracted by the greater 
facilities for a liberal and cheap education it would then pre- 
sent, compared with its present status. 

To those interested, who will follow this line of reasoning 
out in all its bearings, it must be evident that on all sides 
there would be great gain to State, to faculties, and the 
public. ... To resume the geological features again, 
this valley of Blacksburg presents quite an interesting prob- 
lem to scientific men in her coalfield. Do the coal meas- 
ures which outcrop on either side of this valley form a 
lenticular basin underlying the valley, or is it broken in the 
middle by an intrusion of silurian limestones from below ? 
Let us here insert an accurate cross section, taken directly 
across the valley, to assist in the discussion, a distance of 
just 3.34 miles from outcrop on the south side to the corre- 
sponding strata on the north side. 

It has been assumed by Professor Lesley, of Pennsylvania 
Geological Survey, that the limestone in the valley is lower 
silurian ; consequently, that there has been such a disturb- 
ance of the earth's crust as to force a great fragment of this 
limestone into a rent made in the coal formation. This may 
be true ; but a very close examination has reduced the proba- 
ble lateral thickness of this limestone of the lower rocks to 
only one mile or less. Beginning at the outcrop of the coal 
on the south or Price's Mountain side, 6,000 feet were meas- 
ured before the coal rocks, which could be identified with 
some certainty, were passed ; and then on the north side, 
within about 6,000 feet of the outcrop in Brush Mountain, 
a repetition of the same rocks, dipping southwardly, was 



14 MONTGOMERY CO. — BLACKSBURG COLLEGE. 

encountered, making 12,000 feet out of 17,625 feet, which was 
the whole length from one coal outcrop to the other of the 
basin, toward the center of which the coal dips from each 
side. 

The general absence of abundant fossil remains in the 
limestones so far as you can see them would naturally lead 
to the belief that they belong very low down in the order of 
true position ; but they may belong to that class of rocks 
which are formed as a precipitate sometimes in waters 
rather too deep for animal life of any kind. In that case 
they may as well be referred to one age as another. After 
a tolerably diligent search there were a few fossil remains 
found, but too indistinct to be regarded as positive evidence. 
Remains of what was without doubt either a McLurea, a 
Goniatites or Clymenia were found as you approach the 
northern side of the valley, while on the southern side some 
of the limestone was brecciated with distinct crystals of 
gypsum, an almost conclusive proof of their being Carbon- 
iferous ; with a considerable measure of these limestones not 
only lying conformably upon the well-recognized red and 
gray shales of the coal measures, but differing very materi- 
ally in structure from those near the center of the valley. 
They were crypto- crystalline over much of the ground where 
much exposed, as though they had been largely composed of 
fragments of gypsum which had decomposed and passed 
away in solution, leaving the mass full of cells. But it is not 
proposed to render any decision here, or to prolong the dis- 
cussion to the exclusion of other matter which may be more 
agreeable to the reader ; but it is a question submitted to 
men of science as to whether this is a true basin or not. 
If it is broken how is the intrusion of the lower rocks into so 
small an aperture, comparatively, without bringing along 
with them much of the intervening formations, to be ac- 
counted for ? Industrially, these coals are valuable. Four 



MONTGOMERY CO. — BLACESBURG COLLEGE. 15 

veins, the larger having fifty-four inches of good coal, in a 
vein nearly nine feet thick, the smaller two and one-half feet 
of good coal in a vein three feet thick ; the smaller being 
much more bituminous than the larger, which is an anthra- 
cite coal. 

These veins lie very much as represented in the cross sec- 
tion, coming in again on the south side of the anticlinal 
formed by Price's Mountain. In Brush Mountain the most 
satisfactory measurements were taken at the Kinser Bank 
and at the Faulkner Hollow. In Price's Mountain, Bruce's 
Mine gave the most accessible openings. From these meas- 
urements the identity of the veins was established, and as 
they varied so little at different points, it may safely be as- 
sumed that the measures given are the proper ones upon 
which to base calculations as to quantity. 

These two veins, the only ones of any consequence, are 
much broken up and 'disturbed from New River, going 
east, some distance beyond Poverty Gap, leaving ten miles 
length, however, of regular measures, beginning as you ap- 
proach Price's Mill, and becoming broken again in the vicin- 
ity of Blacksburg : ten miles on either side — both Brush 
Mountain and Price's Mountain. These veins will average 
at their outcrops 180 feet above water level in Tom's and 
S trouble's creeks, judging from careful barometric reading — 
average dip 25° — giving 426 feet on the length of the incline. 
Specific gravity being 1.65, the quantity in the larger vein 
above water level in these creeks will be found to be over 
4,600,000 tons on each side of the valley ; deducting one-third 
for space taken up by ravines and loss from handling, there 
would be 3,000,000 of tons for shipment. In the three feet 
vein, as remarked above, there will be two and one-half feet 
of coal of a more bituminous character ; this will yield for 
each side in the same distance over 2,500,000 tons above 
water in the same creeks, or over 1,600,000 tons for shipment. 



16 MONTGOMERY CO. — COAL FORMATION. 

There would be yet remaining the coal below water level, 
which would run on the inclination, or dip, of the veins at 
least 5,000 feet on each side of the valley, and would yield 
a tonnage more than ten times as great as that enumerated 
above. Other parts of these veins will yield many hundreds 
of thousands of tons, both as you approach New River, and as 
you go toward the valley of the North Fork of the Roanoke ; 
but those sections, as well as the south side of Price's Moun- 
tain, will never be regarded as reliable as that from which 
the above calculations were made. 

The analysis of these coals may not be uninteresting : 
Coal from the large vein analyzed by J. M. Safford, State 
Geologist of Tennessee, in 1876, gave the following results : 

Moisture 0.89 

Volatile matter 7.82 

Fixed carbon 67.29 

Ash of grayish color 24.00 

100.00 

Mr. Safford declares it an anthracite. 

The coal of the smaller vein, analyzed in 1876, in the 
laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania by George A. 
Koenig, Ph.D., professor of metallurgy and applied chemis- 
try, gave the following results : 

Moisture at 140° C 0.20 

Gas given out by heating to a yellow-red 

heat one hour 27.44 

Fixed carbon 57.92 

Ashes (white) 14.34 

Sulphur 0.10 

100.00 



MONTGOMERY CO. — POVERTY VALLEY AND GAP MOUNTAIN. 17 

This cliemist places this coal in the dry semi-bituminous 
class. The whole quantity of the coal removed from these 
veins does not exceed 50,000 tons to date. 

The average quantity per year is about 1,700 tons. 

THE MILLSTONE GRIT. 

The millstone grit, nowhere more than 245 feet thick, is 
well exposed in Brush Mountain, near Price's Mill ; several 
ledges of it there yield a stone from which millstones have 
been made for many years. These millrocks have even been 
used with satisfaction in the large mills at Richmond ; and 
would, no doubt, form the basis of a large business, if there 
was a railroad passing by. Between this millstone grit and 
the coal there is a ledge of conglomerate, the pebbles of 
which yield a low percentage of silver upon analysis. 

POVERTY VALLEY AND GAP MOUNTAIN. 

Passing then into the valley next Gap Mountain, nothing 
of note is encountered until you reach the limestone of the 
Lower Helderberg group, which will be valuable for furnace 
use. It sometimes contains small quantities of blue lead 
ore. Close to this going north, as you ascend the Gap 
Mountain, is the remarkable ledge of brown weathered-look- 
ing sandstone, which all through this section is an iron and 
sometimes a manganese-bearing rock. Frequently the sand- 
stone gives way entirely to a limonite highly prized by iron 
men, making the Oriskany an exceedingly valuable member of 
the series. In this particular the Oriskany has great supe- 
riority over the Clinton in this vicinity. The Clinton or 
Dyestone ore here does not seem to have the character 
possessed by the same measures in Poor Valley Bidge, Lee 
County. 

Now let us revert to the mineral springs, after stating in 



18 MONTGOMERY CO. — DR. GENTH's ANALYSIS. 

brief that the northeastern quarter or division of the county 
is composed mainly of Devonian rocks, on the waters of the 
North Fork of Eoanoke Eiver, inclosing Lewis Mountain ; 
with the exception of the north bend of the above stream, 
which is of lower limestone lying next to the proto-carbon- 
iferous rocks in that extension of Brush Mountain. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

Alleghany Springs are very pleasantly situated on the 
south bank of the Roanoke River, three and one-half miles 
south of Alleghany Depot, a station on the Atlantic, Missis- 
sippi and Ohio Railroad. These springs may justly be ranked 
among the most excellent and desirable summer resorts in 
Virginia. The waters are highly medicinal in their charac- 
ter, judging from the following thorough analysis : 

DR. GENTH'S ANALYSIS. 

" According to my analysis, the composition of the water 
from the Alleghany Springs is as follows : 

" One Gallon, 70,000 Grains, Contains 



Sulphate of Magnesia 50.884290 grains 

do. Lime 115.290423 " 

do. Soda 1.717959 " 

do. Potassa 3.699081 " 

Carbonate of Copper 0.000359 " 

do. Lead 0.000509 " 

do. Zinc 0.001713 " 

do. Iron 0.157049 " 

do. Manganese 0.060617 " 

do. Lime 3.613209 " 

do. Magnesia 0.362362 " 

do. Strontia 0.060536 " 

do. Baryta 0.022404 " 

do. Lithia 0.001679 " 

Solid ingredients by direct evaporation gave 184.072000 

Half combined carbonic acid 1.885526 

Free carbonic acid 5.455726 

Hydro-sulphuric acid 0.001339 



Nitrate of Magnesia 3.219562 grains 

do. Ammonia 0.5i9412 '' 

Phosphate of Alumina 0.025549 " 

Silicate of Alumina 0.207399 " 

Fluoride of Calcium 0.022858 " 

Chloride of Sodium 0.274676 " 

Silicic Acid 0.882782 

Crenic Acid 0.001921 " 

Apocrenic Acid 0.000192 " 

Other Organic Matter 1.999121 " 

Carbonate of Cobalt. . I _ 

c Traces 
Teroxide of Antimony ) 



183.069321 grains 



Total amount of ingredients 190.411912 



MONTGOMERY CO. — DR. GENTH'S ANALYSIS. 19 

" With regard to the medicinal qualities of this mineral 
water, I beg leave to copy a few passages from a letter of 
Ch. Cocke, M.D., a gentleman who has made for a number of 
years a series of observations of its healing qualities, and has 
furnished me with information on this subject. He says: 'I 
have spent a portion of six seasons at the Alleghany Springs 
— the two first for the cure of an inveterate case of dyspepsia 
of twenty-five years' standing — the stomach being the chief 
seat of the disease, with many sympathetic affections, such as 
nervous headache, palpitation of the heart, etc. The cure was 
perfect.' 1 

******* 

" ' In short, I have never met with a case of derangement 
of the digestive organs (where the waters were properly used 
with the necessary perseverance) that was not cured or greatly 
relieved, except where the patient was far gone in consump- 
tion — a complication of diseases by no means rare.' 



"The numerous ingredients found in the water of the 
Alleghany Springs, in small quantities, in connection with 
the more active salts of lime and magnesia, must certainly 
produce decided effects, and in combination with the delight- 
ful climate, fresh air, and exercise, cannot help but have a 
highly beneficial influence in many affections of invalids. 

" (Signed) F. A. Genth." 

A stay at these springs has often proved highly beneficial 
to those who have become debilitated from any cause. A 
most healthy desire for food is one of the marked effects, and 
with it that most grateful feeling produced by a restored 
power of digestion which all mere appetizers cannot claim. 

This condition, however, may be owing to the pure and 
wonderfully bracing atmosphere of the place, seeming ever to 



20 MONTGOMERY CO. — DR. GENTH's ANALYSIS. 

be renewed and freshened by contact with the lofty moun- 
tains stretching away for miles in the background. 

As to its natural beauty ! It is picturesque and romantic 
in the highest degree ! No lover of the beautiful in nature 
could fail to be deeply thrilled with the almost perfect har- 
mony in every feature of the noble landscape, presented by 
the grounds and buildings of the springs, in their setting of 
wooded hills and mountains — the mountains rearing their 
towering summits, plumed here and rock-covered there, far 
into the unlimited space above, as if wooing the soft embrace 
of the fleeting clouds. In its front flows the never-failing 
South Fork of the Koanoke, washing the foot of the lawn, 
fresh from more than a thousand crystal springs, dancing to 
its own sweet music, as it rapidly descends over boulder and 
pebble. It may be as well that we have no sketch of these 
springs, for no pencil could portray on paper the charming 
picture. 

Near. to these springs is the fine scenery afforded by the 
mountain streams in their rapid descent through the deep 
gorges — Styles' Falls of fifty feet, Puncheon Run Falls of 
three hundred and fifty feet at the steepest, with much of it 
a cascade coming down a thousand feet. Add to these, two 
falls on this fork of Koanoke River, which will have to be de- 
scribed in the scenery of Floyd County, the Beatrice and 
Prince Imperial, and you have a group of attractions very 
rare to occur in so short a distance of each other. It is sel- 
dom that two streams unite in the manner presented by the 
South Fork coming over Beatrice Falls eighty feet, forming a 
basin at its foot, into which a smaller stream pours its waters 
two hundred feet over the Prince Imperial. 

Space and our feeble powers alike forbid us to attempt a 
description of all this scenery. Nature will not fail to im- 
press any who may visit these places with their exceeding 
beauty more than their awful grandeur. To see them is to 




m 



W &4 



I 'IP ll III 

mm 



MONTGOMERY CO. — THE YELLOW SULPHUR SPRINGS. 21 

read what nature has written in a language no pen can de- 
scribe nor pencil portray. 

THE MONTGOMERY WHITE SULPHUR SFRINGS. 

These springs derive their waters from Devonian lime- 
stones, just about the line of the great fault. The grounds 
and buildings are situated in a very attractive spot, about 
one and three-quarter miles north of the Big Tunnel, a station 
on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, with which 
they are connected by a narrow-gauge railroad. All that can 
be said of pure air, mountain scenery, and excellent diet may 
very well be applied to this locality. The waters are of sev- 
eral kinds — three bold sulphur springs, one chalybeate, and 
a freestone spring, besides limestone water in abundance. 
The handsome pavilions over the marble reservoirs, in which 
most of these waters are caught, are not the least attractive 
feature of these springs. It is claimed that the hotels and 
cottages here will accommodate one thousand guests, and 
that they are well supplied with that great luxury absent at 
many places — bath-rooms. 

In this vicinity, on a stream running into the North Fork 
of Roanoke River, are the Dudley Falls, a beautiful cas- 
cade ninety feet high, where the limestone water, agitated in 
its descent, has deposited in so many years great masses of 
tufa. On the North Fork of Roanoke River, easily accessible 
to these springs, are many wild and romantic dells. In all 
these places in summer, or when the trees are loaded with 
the frosts of winter, there is a distinct charm that impresses 
every lover of nature. 

THE YELLOW SULPHUR SPRINGS. 

The fine mineral spring to which this place owes its repu- 
tation is situated also in the general line of the great fault 



22 MONTGOMERY CO. — THE YELLOW SULPHUR SPRINGS. 

before alluded to, and may derive its waters from the mate- 
rials composing the earlier as well as the Devonian lime- 
stones. 

The site for its grounds and buildings was well selected in 
a wooded glen, about three and a half miles northwardly 
from Christiansburg Depot, on the Atlantic, Mississippi and 
Ohio Railroad, at an elevation of about two thousand feet 
above the sea. It is in full view of fine mountain scenery, 
besides possessing a spring, the waters from which have few 
rivals and no superior as a curative agent in many of the 
most distressing complaints to which frail humanity is sub- 
jected. In cases of ulceration, scrofula, and debility from 
whatever cause, the cures said to have been effected by this 
water are marvelous. An analysis, as given by Col. Wm. 
Gilham, late professor of chemistry at the Virginia Military 
Institute, gave the following results, which are not only inter- 
esting to the physician, but to the scientific, as showing the 
materials of the rocks from which the spring derives its 
elements : 

Carbonic acid 9.360 grains. 

Sulphuric acid 53.383 " 

Phosphoric acid 0.013 " 

Magnesia 7.723 " 

Lime 32.150 " 

Oxide of iron 0.432 " 

Alumina 1.729 " 

Potassa 0.119 " 

Soda 0.359 " 

Chlorine 0.092 " 

Organic extractive matter 3.733 " 

These substances, existing in the water, give rise to car- 
bonates, sulphates, phosphates, and chlorides, as follows : 



MONTGOMERY CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 23 

Carbonate of lime 8.642 grains. 

" magnesia 1.389 

" " protoxide of iron 0.617 

Free carbonic acid 4.680 

Sulphate of lime 63.302 

" " magnesia 21.098 

" " alumina 3.176 

" potassa 0.107 

" soda 0.750 

Phosphate of lime 0.015 

" " magnesia 0.011 

Chloride of potassium 0.097 

" sodium 0.076 

Organic extractive matter 3.733 

Protoxide of iron Traces. 

"This water contains an unusual amount of sulphuric 
acid." 

There are many fine mineral springs in different parts of 
this county. So many indeed that the majority of them 
must always remain unknown to fame. 

All of the above-named springs have telegraphic communi- 
cations with all points. 

TOWNS AND TILLAGES. 

Christiansburg, near the center of the county, on the At- 
lantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, is a place of about 
one thousand or twelve hundred inhabitants, including the 
suburb at the depot, which has a special name and a sepa- 
rate post-office called Bangs. 

Here is situated the county court-house, containing the 
records of a great part of Southwestern Virginia. There are 
quite a number of hotels, stores, and establishments for the 



24 MONTGOMERY CO. — CENTRAL DEPOT. 

manufactory of saddlery, tin ware, boots and shoes, etc. 
Here is located the office of an enterprising and excellent 
journal, TJie Montgomery Messenger, devoted to the im- 
provement of its section. There are churches of the various 
denominations, and schools both public and private. 

The female schools are somewhat noted throughout this 
region as being organized on a higher basis than is usual in 
country towns. 

BLACKSBURG. 

This village has already been mentioned as being situated 
toward the eastern end of the valley of Blacksburg. It is 
a place of about two hundred and fifty inhabitants, and is 
now noted as being the location of the Blacksburg Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College, an unfortunate institution, 
the child of our good old mother, Virginia, during the time 
of the great prostration, consequent upon the event of the 
" late unpleasantness," and could not, reasonably, be a very 
vigorous institution. 

This village is pleasantly situated, and would of itself 
form a delightful summer resort, surrounded on all sides 
with rolling grass and grain fields, dotted here and there 
with handsome residences. 

CENTRAL DEPOT 

Is situated on New River, toward the western limit of 
the county. This point is one of much importance in the 
county, as having a great part of the repair shops of the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. Here is a large 
round-house, and a lay-over station for engines, engine-men, 
conductors, etc. It of course affords a very nice little mar- 
ket for much country produce. There are churches, stores, 
hotels, etc. 



MONTGOMERY CO. — PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 25 

ALLEGHANY STATION, 

On the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, is a small 
place, as you approach the eastern side of the county. It 
is situated in quite a tobacco producing section, arid is of 
some importance as a shipper of that article. It likewise 
has stores and a church close by. It is the landing-place of 
visitors to the Alleghany Springs. Near to this is an open- 
ing on the zinc and lead vein. 

BIG SPRING. 

This place takes its name from a limestone spring of ex- 
traordinary volume, which rises close by, and flows into the 
South Fork of Roanoke River, upon the south side of which 
stream Big Spring (the station on the Atlantic, Mississippi 
and Ohio Railroad) is situated. This place is very attrac- 
tive to persons seeking an excellent summer resort. The 
clear water, fine air, noble sugar-trees, and high mountains, 
with splendid fare at the hotel, render it very inviting. 

There are several stores, and a factory for making lathes, 
upon which to turn wagon, carriage, and buggy spokes. The 
enterprising proprietor and inventor of this machine, Mr. 
Coffee, takes great pride in showing the machine at work, 
turning out two spokes per minute. 

LAFAYETTE 

Is an ancient village at the junction of the North and 
South Forks of Roanoke River, close to the eastern bound- 
ary line. It has one or two stores, a church near, and a fine 
flouring-mill. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

According to the recent report of Dr. Ruffner, Superin- 
tendent of Public Education, the public schools of Mont- 
gomery are improving. There are thirty-nine white schools, 



26 MONTGOMERY CO. — TIMBER. 

and nine colored. For these there are thirty-nine white 
teachers and nine colored teachers. Upon these schools 
there are in daily attendance about eight hundred white 
children and two hundred and fifty colored. 

At Christiansburg and Bangs there are two graded schools, 
one for white, the other for colored students. The white 
school is one of six grades, the colored of two. The average 
daily attendance of the white school is twenty ; of the col- 
ored, one hundred and twenty. 

PRODUCTION OF CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, CORN, AND TOBACCO. 

This county is divided into several sections, of totally dif- 
ferent agricultural capacity, by the different geological form- 
ations. 

Those parts which are best adapted for cattle are of course 
the great grass areas, common to the limestone valleys. "We 
have already seen that a great part of the county is of this 
nature. It is more than one half, when you add to the lime- 
stone grass lands those lands along Brush Creek which 
have been rendered fertile by the decomposition of fel- 
spathic rocks. Sheep can be raised profitably all over the 
county. Wheat is apparently in its native element. Corn 
does well on all the grass lands, and tobacco is suited to 
nearly all the soils in the county. It is mostly cultivated in 
the southeastern and northeastern parts of the county. 

Of cattle, averaging the last few years, the county has shipped per year 1,800 head. 

Of 6heep, " " " " " 25 car-loads. 

Of wheat, " " " " " ...3(5.700 bushels. 

Of corn, " " " " " ....3,600 " 

Of tobacco, " " " " '• ..613,600 pounds. 

TIMBER. 

The different kinds of timber native to this latitude are 
very abundant in the northern side, and more mountainous 



MONTGOMERY CO. — BEE CULTURE. 27 

districts of the southern belt of the country. The oak is 
predominant. Over much of the area between Brush and 
Gap Mountains, there are fine bodies of good hard wood for 
charcoal purposes. The south side of the county occasion- 
ally shows considerable bodies of hemlock and white pine, 
as well as good areas here and there for coaling. 

WATER POWER. 

There is much unused water-power in the county. New 
River, discharging about eighteen hundred feet per second 
at low stages, has fall enough at two or three places to be 
used; but on account of the height of the floods it might 
riot be profitable to use it. Little River, discharging one hun- 
dred and eighty feet per second at low stages, will be a very 
useful stream. South and North Forks of Roanoke River, 
of rapid descent, present many locations suitable for wool- 
carding machines and grist-mills. Tom's Creek, and several 
other streams of smaller volume, afford constant streams 
throughout the summer. One of the advantages possessed 
by these rivers and creeks is the never-failing character of 
their flow. 

GRAPE CULTURE. 

The cultivation of any imported varieties of grape upon 
this elevated dividing ridge, between eastern and western 
waters, must be attended with much uncertainty. Experience 
has proven that careful attention paid to native varieties not 
only causes them to bear a grape of fine flavor, both for wine- 
making and eating, but an unfailing crop may, with greater 
certainty, be looked for with the native than with the foreign 
varieties. 

BEE CULTURE. 

The luxuriant growth of flowering trees, shrubs, and plants 
of this section would render bee culture, under proper man- 



28 MONTGOMERY CO. — FISH CULTURE. 

agement, a paying industry. There is much interest mani- 
fested in the recent improvement in gums, but very little 
more honey is made than is necessary for home use. 

FISH CULTURE. 

The work done in the last year or two, both by the State 
Commissioner and private individuals, is beginning to show 
in the large number of black bass, and other fine varieties, 
making their appearance in New River and tributaries in 
this county. In the Roanoke, near Big Spring, Alleghany 
Springs, North Fork, etc., the large increase of fish has been 
owing, to some extent, to the exertions of Captain Sumter, of 
Big Spring. 



PULASKI COUNTY. 29 

PULASKI COUNTY. 

It is difficult to find language that will introduce, with 
proper and merited description, each county as it presents 
itself, without drifting into a condition of sameness desirable 
to be avoided in treating of important matter. And when, 
as in the case of the different counties of Southwestern Vir- 
ginia, candor would compel the impartial writer to use many 
adjectives of praise in speaking of their resources, the task 
of properly presenting the subject becomes still more diffi- 
cult, if the appearance of mere flattery and adulation is also 
to be avoided. 

Particularly is this the case with the county of Pulaski. 
The natural features of this county are nearly all of that 
order, which, if known universally, would fix the attention of 
the least observant, whether it was invited to the scenery, 
made up of mountains, forests, and broad streams, great 
grass fields, dotted with herds of fine cattle, or those extra- 
ordinary exhibits of mineral material and mineral waters that 
mark the belt in which Pulaski is situated. Though small 
in the extent of its territory, in comparison with the other 
counties of this section, Pulaski is making a wide and favor- 
able reputation for the almost fabulous quantity of its iron 
ores and the extent of its fine coal fields, to say nothing of 
the ores of zinc, lead, and other minerals. In addition to 
which, it is making giant strides to obtain a position as the 
leading manufacturing county ! Look at the large zinc-re- 
ducing establishment recently erected at Martin's Depot, and 
at the very extensive iron furnaces in course of preparation 
at the same place ! Altogether, Pulaski has no reason to 
blush for the part it is performing, either for itself or for 
the State. The course it is now pursuing makes of it a 
most valuable factor in the final settlement of the disturbed 
financial condition of the State, enhancing, in large measure, 



30 PULASKI CO. — HOW WATERED. 

the tax-paying power of its own and neighboring communi- 
ties. 

Pulaski is bounded north by the county of Giles and a 
small part of Bland, marked by the crest of Walker's Moun- 
tain ; east, by New River, up to the mouth of Little River, 
which stream then forms the boundary for eight or ten miles 
on the southeast ; on the south, by Floyd County, and a part 
of Carroll ; west, by the county of Wythe. The south bound- 
ary line follows very much the crest of the Poplar Camp, or 
Iron Mountain. 

HOW WATERED. 

The county is well watered by New River, Little River, 
and their tributaries. Among the latter, Back Creek, Peak 
Creek, Big and Little Reed Island Creeks, and Laurel are 
the most important. 

Geologically. — Pulaski shows nearly all the strata from the 
Potsdam to the Proto-Carboniferous inclusive. It is similar 
to Montgomery County in this respect, except that, in the 
elevation made by Draper's Mountain, it has a much larger 
exhibition of Potsdam rocks and ores. 

The county is divided into four main geological divisions, 
in part owing to the position of Draper's Mountain, which 
severs the western half of the county nearly in the middle 
from west to east. The first, or southern section, is a great 
synclinal trough lying between Iron Mountain on the south, 
and Draper's Mountain, as above described, with New River 
occupying its greatest depression. The second, northern, is 
the Robinson Tract and upper Peak Creek country, a broken 
anthracite coal basin, bounded south by a fault line between 
the underlying Devonian rocks, and the upthrow of the Pots- 
dam, and north by Little Walker's Mountain. The third, or 
eastern division, is the great plateau of beautiful grass lands, 
bedded upon Silurian limestone, occupying the space from 



PULASKI CO. — DESCRIPTION OF SECTION. 31 

Cloyd's Mountain, southwardly, to the foot hills of Mac's 
Mountain, Draper's Mountain having come suddenly to an 
end in Peak Knob, leaving a wide plateau of grazing and 
farming lands between its eastern end and the line of New 
River, after that stream turns a northward course. The 
fourth division is the valley of Devonian strata lying between 
Little and Big Walker's Mountains. 

It being somewhat unusual to find the Potsdam and Devo- 
nian rocks thrown into contact in this section of country, the 
accompanying geological section will be found to be located 
across Draper's Mountain, the north side of which shows 
this unusual occurrence : 

DESCRIPTION OP SECTION. 

The southern end of the geological cross-section on the 
southern boundary of the county, shown on page 41, begins 
about the crest of the main Iron Mountain, near a point 
where Mac's Mountain, a lateral spur of the main range, 
diverges from it on the north side. 

These rocks represent the series about the division be- 
tween the Huronian and Cambrian, or Lower Silurian. The 
conformability of the strata has been greatly disturbed, both 
by the pressure from the southeast, and by a great end- 
pressure or strain at right angles to the southeast pressure. 
Consequently, the dip is very variable. It may be recorded 
as being southwardly at high angles. To the south we have 
the hydro-mica slates, overlaid with a broad felspathic and 
quartoze series, terminating in a band of iron ore ; above 
this, nearly one thousand feet of Potsdam sandstone, with 
occasional bands of slates, some of them very dark ; over 
this, in the order of stratification, are two veins of brown 
iron ores, 6 and 9 feet respectively, separated by a band of 
slate not over 20 feet thick ; nest to these come nearly 1,600 



32 PULASKI CO. — DESCRIPTION OF SECTION. 

feet of Calciferous red shales and slates interstratified with 
limestones more or less magnesian, and sometimes highly 
ferruginous, here and there showing lead and zinc, the red 
slates, etc., very frequently yielding fine specular iron ore. 
After this an unknown thickness of the upper Calciferous 
limestones, much folded and repeated as you approach the 
basin of the river, where they begin to assume a more regular 
and horizontal attitude, as often showing a gentle inclination 
to the east or west as any other way. 

From the river to Draper's Valley, which lies just south of 
and parallel with Draper's Mountain, there is a repetition of 
the red slates and shales, alternating with limestone, and 
sometimes hard sandstone, so folded as to afford little chance 
of ascertaining thicknesses. Draper's Valley is a beautiful 
and fertile limestone valley, showing some ledges of lime- 
stone which make a beautiful ornamental stone belonging to 
the Calciferous series. You then encounter Draper's Moun- 
tain, with the Potsdam rocks dipping southwardly at an 
angle of about 50°, bedded upon buff and various colored 
slates. A part of this mountain is a broken anticlinal — par- 
ticularly that about Martin's Depot — with its northern limit 
defined by the great fault just now mentioned, in which the 
Potsdam and Devonian rocks are brought together. 

The rocks of the Potsdam lining this great fault on its 
south side are those which hold the heavier bands of iron 
ore, and they are so thrown together for several miles 
along this line, that the fault is marked by one of the heavi- 
est beds of iron ore in Virginia. Passing northwardly the 
section reveals about 2,500 feet of Devonian rocks, mostly 
fossiliferous slates, dipping northwardly, overlaid by the low- 
est beds of the Proto-Carboniferous, showing some coal in 
thin seams. You may then say you are in the Pulaski coal 
basin until you reach Little Walker's Mountain, six miles to 
the north. About Martin's Depot the red slates, which over- 



PULASKI CO. — IEON ORES. 33 

lie the coal at some distance, are easily distinguished in a 
railroad cut, and in the bed of Peak Creek. From there 
until you reach Kobinson's Tract, which lies next to Little 
Walker's Mountain, the stratification is much disturbed ; and 
Tract Mountain, which bounds Eobinson's Tract on the south, 
is a rather broken arch compressed from the sides at the 
springing line, showing an upheaval of the larger coal veins. 
Passing across the undetermined limestones of the Tract, 
you reach the more undisturbed strata containing the best 
coal veins in the south flank of Little Walker's Mountain, 
dipping at various angles up to 45° southwardly and south- 
eastwardly. Underlying the coal measures is a few feet of 
fine grindstone, followed by slates and sandstones 1,200 feet 
thick to the Olean conglomerate, which here outcrops nearly 
at the crest of Little Walker's Mountain, dipping 40° south- 
wardly. This measure is over 300 feet thick. Nest under 
this is hard sandstone underlaid with an alternation of slates 
and sandstones, some highly fossiliferous and calcareous, for 
more than 1,500 feet down to the black slates and carbona- 
ceous limestones which represent the Coal Oil rocks. Leav- 
ing these, you pass northwardly over the upturned edges of 
the Marcellus and Hamilton, the Oriskany, etc., the Clinton and 
Oneida sub-epochs, to the northern end of the section in Big 
Walker's Mountain, on the northern boundary of the county. 
A section toward the eastern side of the county would be 
similar, except that the great central part of it would be an 
exhibit of Lower Silurian limestones, leaving out the south- 
ern rim of the coal basin, and the showing of upturned Pots- 
dam rocks presented in Draper's Mountain. 

IRON ORES. 

In the continuation — north 70° east, and south 70° west — of 

the flanking ridges of the main Iron, or Poplar Camp Moun- 
3 



34 PULASKI CO. — IRON ORES. 

tain, on the north side, is a thick series of the Potsdam and 
Calciferous rocks, as shown in the cross-section. Through- 
out its length in the county of Pulaski, perhaps it would be 
a difficult task to approximate even the quantity of brown 
iron ore it will yield. The Mac's Creek Furnace is built in 
this range ; the old Laurel Creek Forge also used ores from it. 
With the exception of occasional flexures and dislocations, 
this Iron Ore is continuous throughout the length of the 
county. At Mac's Creek, the nearest veins to the furnace, 
are the two spoken of as being 6 and 9 feet respectively, in 
walls of slate, and occurring about the division between the 
Potsdam and Calciferous ; but under this, geologically, about 
the beginning, or bottom, of the series of sandstones, marked 
by the Scolithus Linearis, seems to be the largest deposit, 
or vein. At one point, about five miles southwest of Snow- 
ville, the ore beds formerly used by the Laurel Creek Forge 
give such dimensions as follow : 

In 1,000 feet length of the vein, 180 feet of this length 
is 940 feet wide, the remainder having a width of 200 feet. 
The vein goes down nearly vertical to great depths, this 
being on the crest of a high hill, and it may safely be esti- 
mated that the ore can be stripped to a depth of 300 feet. 
This condition, of great thickness, is, without doubt, owing 
to end pressure on the great mass of the stratification, caus- 
ing either a lateral flexure and reduplication, or an interlacing 
of fragments. To a depth of 150 feet this body of ore will 
yield over 8,000,000 of tons of brown iron ore of good grade. 
On the south side of this ridge is Laurel Creek, flowing 
northeast, on which are situated good ore beds of high- 
grade iron ore, much of it being derived from the decompo- 
sition of ferruginous limestones, the Lowest of Lower Silurian 
limestones. 

In this vicinity is, also, Eedland Mountain, near Little 
River, a good ore-bearing ridge, containing that class of ore 



PULASKI CO. — IEON OKES. 35 

which stains the soil a deep red. These measures trend 
southwest through the Mac's Mountain and Mac's Creek re- 
gion, giving the great and almost unlimited deposits upon 
the strength of which Mac's Creek Furnace was located. As 
you approach Reed Island Creek going southwest, the dupli- 
cation of the mountain chain seems to cease somewhat, and 
at Flannigan's, or Graham & Robinson's lead mine on New 
River, the Potsdam and lower Calciferous rocks have sub- 
sided so much as to leave exposed large masses of the next 
succeeding series, the white silicious limestones, and blue 
wavy limestones, which, while they are distinctly Lead and 
Zinc-bearing rocks, also carry in places very heavy deposits 
of sulphuret of iron. The brown ores resulting from their 
decomposition form very extensive beds, as at Rich Hill, and 
those interesting deposits of pipe ores at Andrew Moore's, 
below, on New River. 

A few miles up Little Reed Island Creek from its mouth, 
near the Pulaski and Wythe County line, there are the only 
evidences of the terrace epoch to be seen in this section of 
country, as is also mentioned in the description of Wythe 
County. This is in brown iron ore of a very high grade, in 
terraces about GO feet above the present level of the creek. 
These terraces are, no doubt, owing to the creek, in past ages, 
cutting through the immense beds of sulphurets of iron and 
copper in Carroll County above ; and its waters coming down 
heavily saturated with a solution of iron, while passing here 
through a more level country, became stationary long enough 
to make these singular depositions. While this is the main 
source of the iron, it is very probable that the decomposing 
rocks of No. 2 close by added largely to that derived from 
the creek. These ores are largely in use by Forney's Forge 
at Allisonia, near the mouth of Reed Island Creek, at High 
Rock Forge, and by Graham's new furnace farther up in Wythe 
County, as well as by the Boom Furnace in Pulaski. They 



36 PULASKI CO. — IRON ORES. 

have proven to be not only of very high grade, but in very 
great quantity. The next great deposit of brown iron ore is that 
in the north of Draper's Mountain, along the line of fault just 
now mentioned. At one mile and a half south of Martin's Depot, 
on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, at what is 
familiarly known as the Honaker Ore Bank, may be considered 
the heaviest exhibition yet ascertained along the lead, which 
runs with intermissions both ways for several miles. At the 
Honaker Bank a body of the ore was measured, and found to 
give a length of 1,000 feet, 75 feet thickness or width, by an 
average elevation of outcrop above water in the small branch 
near of 125 feet. Throwing out one half for intrusions of 
quartz and clayey impurities, this body will yield 500,000 tons 
of good ore, down to the level of water in the small branch. 
This little stream marks the division between two large bod- 
ies of ore. Perhaps the deposit west of it is equally as large 
as that just now described. This ore is underlaid by the 
felspathic series of the lowest Cambrian, or upper Huronian 
epoch, and would show over it the Scolithus-bearing series ; 
but the great fault by which these low measures have been 
brought up so high has protruded the Scolithus series, so 
that it has been denuded and carried away. 

The analysis of the Honaker brown ore is as follows : 

Iron 58.00, Phosphorus None. — Dr. Genth. 

There are also surface exhibitions of brown ores in the 
south flank of Little "Walker's Mountain, very probably the 
result of a decomposing vein of iron carbonate in the Coal 
Measures. Occasionally, in the hills among the limestone 
grass lands, brown ores show. They are generally very pure, 
but as yet undeveloped. 

The next locality of brown ores of any consequence is the 
line of Oriskany rocks in the south flank of Big Walker's 
Mountain. The measure of the Oriskany in Pulaski is not 



PULASKI CO. — MANGANESE ORES. 37 

generally more than 18 feet. Occasionally this is nearly all 
brown iron ore of high grade ; again it gives way to manganese 
ore, and very often it is nothing but a highly ferruginous 
sandstone. It is nearly 20 miles long in Pulaski County. 

RED IRON ORE. 

Specular ore may, now and then, be found in the large 
Potsdam vein above described, but not in well-ascertained 
quantities. In the overlying red shales and slates it is in 
very considerable quantity, but not yet found well enough in 
hand to justify mining. It forms a very large proportion of 
these rocks, but unfortunately too generally distributed. It 
is only after their decomposition that it begins to enter as an 
important factor into the question of iron ores. It then be- 
comes the parent of some of the fine deposits found in the 
limestones at lower levels. In Draper's Mountain there is a 
thin vein of red ore ; also in Big "Walker's Mountain. This 
last is the fossil red, which, from the specimens so far exam- 
ined, does not bid fair to be of any consequence. 

IRON CARBONATE. 

There is no doubt a vein of black band about 20 inches 
thick overlying the coal, but as yet not developed. In the 
rocks at the northern base of Little Walker's Mountain there 
is a measure of highly carbonaceous limestone, about 15 feet 
thick, which is also impregnated with iron to the extent of 
about ten per cent. This is a low form of iron carbonate. It 
may be regarded as a very valuable measure for furnace pur- 
poses. It is just about the position of the coal oil series. 

MANGANESE ORES. 

Manganese will be found a large constituent of all the 
Potsdam iron ores, except occasional lengths on the veins, 



38 PULASKI CO. — COAL. 

where there seems to be but little. It rarely ever assumes 
the character of a pure oxide of manganese in those veins in 
Pulaski, but in the Oriskany ores of Walker's Mountain it 
is an ore of very high grade. Now and then, as at the Alum 
Springs and Spur Branch, it bids fair to be found in sufficient 
quantities to make it a heavy item of transportation. 

COAL. 

The discussion, in a public print, of a matter of so much 
importance to this county as the Coal is, is entered upon 
with some reluctance in this work. To describe the Coal Field 
correctly, and outline the proper course to be pursued for its 
successful mining, is a delicate point. It occupies the north- 
ern and northwestern portions of the county, extending from 
New River on the east into Wythe County, 20 miles, on the 
west. The upthrow of Silurian limestones by which its width 
is limited on the south is observable along Back Creek 
until you reach the eastern limit of Bobinson's Tract, when it 
begins to assume the appearance of a basin with northern 
and southern outcrops. It is really an irregular basin, from 
a line across the country just below Martin's, until you pass 
into Wythe County on the west, occupying all the ground be- 
tween the ridge just north of Draper's Mountain and Little 
Walker's Mountain, six miles in width. It is much broken 
toward the middle by several nearly parallel ridges, such as 
Tract Mountain and Chellokee Bidge. The coal measures are 
only considered, along here, reliable on the side next Little 
Walker's Mountain, to which the Altoona Coal and Iron 
Co. has built a narrow-gauge railway from Martin's Depot 
on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Balleoad. Just at 
the point where the Altoona Company has hitherto 
mined the coal there is a very considerable disturbance 
of the stratification composing the south flank of Lit- 



PULASKI CO. — COAL. 39 

tie "Walker's Mountain ; hence the measures here given were 
taken a mile or so farther east, where no such disturb- 
ance existed. Throughout the whole extent of workable coal 
there are considered to be two reliable veins : the underlying 
vein measures 2 feet and 3 feet at different points; and 
where there is no folding or sliding of strata, it is separated 
by 15 feet of slate from a vein giving 4 feet of solid coal with 
3 feet of looser coal over it, over which, at 25 feet, there is a 
vein of soft coal 4 feet thick. The middle vein, as in the Al- 
toona mine, sometimes assumes a thickness of 22 feet; but 
this is no doubt owing to crowding of the strata from press- 
ure. From the outcrop southwardly, before any possible 
fault intervenes to cut off the coal, it is an average distance of 
3,500 feet ; and if Robinson's Tract should be a true basin, 
there would be nearly two miles' width, from north to south, of 
the best workable veins, though about the middle of the 
basin the coal would lie very deep. One mile length on the 
veins — that is from northeast to southwest — by a width of 
3,500 feet will yield about 4,100,000 tons of coal, that 
approaches very nearly a true anthracite in character. The 
Altoona coal mine will this year dispose of 47,000 tons of its 
two varieties of coal. 

As you approach the western end of the county, close to 
the Wythe County line, the coal near the Atlantic, Missis- 
sippi and Ohio Railroad, or southern side of the basin, 
becomes more regular, and for an area of several miles is 
valuable. The best vein shows six feet thick, and assumes 
its best character about fifty feet below water level. It 
may be suggested, that the character of the coals of these 
Pulaski measures would be found much superior below water 
level. It is fair to assume, where they have been sub- 
jected to so much disturbance, and the coal near the out- 
crops has been exposed so long to the action of the elements, 
that much of the carbonaceous material has been lost ; but 



40 PULASKI CO. — SILVER 

the same constituents in the coal below water level have had 
no chance to be eliminated to such an extent, or rather, to 
escape, and an analysis of that coal, say two hundred feet 
below water level, is likely to be found much higher in car- 
bon, and lower in percentage of ash. It might be of interest 
to mention the names of special localities where these coals 
have better developed ; but as the veins are continuous, from 
New Paver almost to the Wythe County line, along the south 
flank of Little Walker's Mountain, it is not necessary. 

LEAD AND ZINC. 

Pulaski holds a part of the great Zinc and Lead Basin, 
which is developed to so valuable an extent in Wythe 
County, a few miles to the southwest. About two miles be- 
low the mouth of Reed Island Creek, on New River, there is 
a great fragment of zinc and lead rocks, now being mined by 
Flannigan, and Graham & Robinson. Both above and below 
this point these strata are thrown out for some distance by 
the obtrusion of the underlying red slates and shales ; here, 
however, it is likely to prove of value. The dip of the rock 
is northwest 3(P from the horizon. The greatest mass of 
ore is found at the junction of the white silicious limestone 
with the blue and white lamellated wavy limestone. When 
last examined there were one hundred and fifty tons of ore on 
the ground. The mine was opened by a tunnel three hun- 
dred and thirty feet long. There are occasional displays of 
ore east of this point, but of no great consequence as yet. 
Lead also, shows in small particles in Proto-Carboniferous 
rocks in Tract Mountain, and in Lower Helderberg rocks in 
Big Walker's Mountain. 

SDLVER. 

Silver is a constituent of pebbles found in a thin measure 
of conglomerate, which lies about one hundred feet beneath 



PULASKI CO. 



41 



fe: Levels Aboye Tide o 



8 g J Big Wall-era 
-?<?%/ Mountain, 



l[itile Walkers or 
Cloyds Mln. 



Miss & Ohio R. R. 



ult 

naker Iron Ore 75 ft 




Levels Above Tide ° 



42 PULASKI CO. — TIMBER. 

the Coal Measures, but is not supposed to be in very consid- 
erable quantity. 

LIMESTONE. 

Limestones of all kinds exist in all but the more moun- 
tainous districts. The blue limestones of the valley are 
good for lime, and those which weather white or light drab 
are hydraulic. 

BUILDING STONES. 

There are many ledges of fine building stone both in the 
limes and sandstones. Along Peak Creek, in the lowest of 
the coal rocks, the sandstones could not be excelled any- 
where for the beauty and size of the stones, which can be 
obtained homogeneous in color and texture, breaking with a 
regular fracture, and weathering well ; they are much sought 
after. 

In Draper's Mountain and in Poplar Camp Mountain there 
are ledges which will yield rock suitable for furnace lining. 
In Draper's Valley there are ledges of limestones so varie- 
gated in color as to approach marble in beauty. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

The Pulaski Alum Springs on Little Walker's Creek is 
now the only regularly kept watering-place in the county. 
In its neighborhood visitors are entertained by citizens also. 
The waters of these springs flow from Marcellus slates. 
They are distinctly alum and chalybeate, and are highly 
tonic in their character. The mass made from the water 
sells readily, and is now the source of some profit to the 
owners of the springs. 

TIMBER. 

The valuable trees of Pulaski are white oak, chestnut oak, 
chestnut, poplar, walnut, hickory, white pine, and a few 
others, such as sugar-maple and buckeye. White oak seems 



PULASKI CO. — MANUFACTURES. 43 

to be the predominant feature in timber. In the valley 
between Little and Big Walker's Mountains there are large 
quantities of fine white oak. 

WATER POWER. 

Leaving out New River, Little River and Big Reed Island 
Creek are capable of supplying a very great water power. 
These streams each discharge over one hundred and eighty 
cubic feet per second. Little Reed Island Creek, somewhat 
smaller, yields fine power. Peak Creek, from its average 
fall being over twelve feet per mile, offers many mill sites. 
Back Creek also, though a smaller stream, is useful in that 
way. 

MANUFACTURES. 

If the metal-reducing establishments now built and in 
course of preparation be included under the head of manu- 
factures, Pulaski occupies a prominent position among her 
sister counties. At Martin's Depot there is a system of fur- 
naces recently completed, now reducing the zinc ores of the 
New River basin to metallic zinc, or spelter, as it is called. 
There are now two principal furnaces with about twelve tiers 
of retorts each, with an average daily capacity of about 
four thousand pounds together. To these are to be added 
soon as many more. On Mac's Creek, in the southern dis- 
trict of the county, there is a finely constructed iron furnace 
— the Radford Furnace — having an average daily capacity of 
twenty tons, now in operation. At Allisonia, Reed Island 
Creek, Forney's Forge turns out twelve tons of fine blooms 
per week. On this creek, just above, is the newly erected 
"Boom Furnace." At Snowville, on Little River, there is 
a good woolen factory for making kerseys, jeans, cassimeres, 
blankets, etc., but not now in operation. There are suffi- 



44 PULASKI CO. — FBUITS. 

cient mills in the county to meet the wants of the people, 
some of them very good. 

AGRICULTURE. 

It is almost impossible to do justice to the subject of agri- 
culture in the county of Pulaski. For so small a county, 
comparatively, it has established for itself an enviable name 
as a grass county. Back Creek and sections of New Kiver, 
with occasional areas on Peak Creek and in Draper's Valley, 
afford some of the finest grazing lands in Virginia. There is 
much of the county, besides, devoted to mere farming opera- 
tions, much of it being well adapted to tobacco, such as the 
hill lands, toward the southern side of the county. 

SCENERY. 

The rivers with its high cliffs, its sweeping bends, and clear 
waters, makes the most striking scenery of the county. Often- 
times, bordered as it is about the Horse Shoe with luxuriant 
and spreading grass fields on one side, and cliffs on the oppo- 
site side, it affords scenery of a very high order. 

FRUITS. 

All the fruits of this latitude do well in Pulaski. Grapes 
when properly cultivated and pruned yield a very certain 
return. 

Bee culture is becoming gradually of more imjiortance each 
year. The culture of fish by the State authorities and pri- 
vate parties has been looked after with a great deal of inter- 
est. The lake at Martin's is now stocked with black bass, 
placed there several years since by Captain Sumter, and 
New River is now affording, about New River Station, cap- 
ital sport in the improved varieties, which are becoming 
somewhat numerous. Little River is likely to be used by 



PULASKI CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 45 

the authorities as an excellent breeding ground for favorite 
fish, on account of the existence of a spring, which conies 
out near its west bank, in a very large stream from a deep 
cavern in the limestone rocks. In this place large quan- 
tities of catfish annually hibernate. 

TRADE IN CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, AND TOBACCO. 

The annual shipment of cattle from Pulaski is about 3,800, 
of which one half goes to the English market. Of sheep 
there are exported annually about 6,000 head. There are 
about 15,000 pounds of wool used in the county and sold 
out of it annually ; 68,000 bushels of wheat shipped ; 5,000 
bushels of corn annually shipped, and about 135,000 pounds 
of tobacco. 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

This county is directly on the great through line of railway 
from the Atlantic seaboard, through Tennessee, to the West 
and South. The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad 
passes through the heart of the county from east to west. New 
River, besides being the line of a navigation improvement 
now under the auspices of the general government, is also 
the line of the New Rdter Railroad, a road now being con- 
structed. This is also one of the proposed lines of the Pitts- 
burgh Southern Railway. 

The county is well supplied with good country roads ; one 
of them is a fine macadamized turnpike. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Newbern, the county site, is a small town having the usual 
number of stores, hotels, and various kinds of repairing shops. 
It has churches of various denominations, and schools. At 
this place is published an ably edited weekly newspaper, 



46 PULASKI CO. — PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

worth more tlian all of the other institutions of the town put 
together. Dublin is two miles north from Newbern, on the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. It is a place of 
several hundred inhabitants, containing churches, stores, and 
schools. Martin's is now the place of progress in the county. 
With its Zinc Works and fine Iron Furnace, soon to be com- 
pleted, its railroad connecting the heavy beds of coal with 
the larger railroad, together with its romantic location upon 
a beautiful mountain stream, all bid fair soon to make it the 
most considerable place in Southwestern Virginia. New 
River Station will be a place of importance also, as the point 
of junction between the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Rail- 
road, the New River Railroad, and the New River Improve- 
ment. Snowville, on Little River, is an enterprising village 
with a woolen factory, grist and sawmill, good stores, 
schools, smith-shops, etc. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The public schools of Pulaski have fared like the other 
schools in Virginia the last few years ; but are now decidedly 
improved, and are, no doubt, on a permanent basis of pros- 
perity. 

It will not do to dismiss Pulaski County without saying it 
is now entering, as a most important factor, into the question 
of the future prosperity of the State. It would be well for 
the example of those men, who have been so instrumental in 
bringing about this healthy condition of affairs in Pulaski, to 
be more widely copied in the different counties. If such 
should be the case, how soon would the really fine resources 
of the State be the means of her redemption from the embar- 
rassments that have held her bound in the past. 



WYTHE COUNTY. 47 



WYTHE COUNTY. 



To open the chapter on Wythe County in a manner worthy 
of the high claims it has upon the consideration of the pub- 
lic, will be quite as difficult as it will be to close it with the 
consciousness of having done justice to the subject. 

Every endeavor has been made to treat all the territory 
described in this volume with the utmost impartiality ; and 
it is not to be supposed, because development has been 
pushed to a much greater extent in Wythe than in any other 
county, that an impartial description of it, as it presents it- 
self, is intended in the least to detract from the just merits of 
the other fine counties composing Southwestern Virginia. 

On the contrary, an apology is due to the patient friends, 
who have so kindly awaited the appearance of this book, 
for the imperfect manner in which this great county, with its 
varied resources of a superior character, is treated. But it 
is due, also, to the reader to say that much that is interesting 
with regard to Wythe would have been omitted had the book 
made its appearance twelve months ago. 

In the development of its different ore fields the couuty is 
making rapid strides toward a position of commercial im- 
portance, well calculated to excite the just pride of her 
citizens, as well as to encourage the friends of the State in 
the hope that so progressive a spirit, showing in other 
counties of the section as well, will tend far toward the 
early solution of those financial difficulties which have well 
nigh compromised her honor, and which, without the active 
development of the lately-hidden resources of the State, 
would find but a tardy settlement. 

That Wythe is nobly doing its duty in increasing the tax- 
paying power of its own and neighboring communities, no 
one can doubt who will look at^ the different furnaces and 
mines recently put in operation in the county. And these 



48 WYTHE CO. — HOW BOUNDED. 

works, it may be submitted, supplying extensive home mar- 
kets, besides employing the industrious labor of the country 
at remunerative wages, are making the burdens of the State 
much easier to be borne than formerly ; not only releasing 
old residents from embarrassment, but bringing in new men, 
wealthy, and, at the same time, willing to help the country 
out of its troubles. 

It is in no wise intended in such an introduction to under- 
rate the importance of the agricultural interests of the county, 
nor of the manufacturing enterprises which are struggling 
through a healthy infancy to a mature age of great usefulness 
and importance. 

If conditions of transportation could once be made to as- 
sume a correct relation to the different interests of agricul- 
ture, mines, and manufactures, Wythe would not be long in 
taking a leading position among the counties most noted for 
high commercial prosperity ; and this comparison might very 
safely be extended to the most favored localities throughout 
the whole country. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Wythe is separated from Bland County, on the north, by 
Big Walker's Mountain, except six miles of the northeastern 
end of the line, which leaves Big Walker's Mountain, and cuts 
over south to the top of Little Walker's, or Cloyd's Mountain. 

On the south it is divided from the counties of Grayson, 
to the southwest, and Carroll, to the southeast, by Iron 
Mountain and its extension, known as Poplar Camp Moun- 
tain. On the east is Pulaski County, and on the west is the 
county of Smyth. 

Within these boundaries may be considered to lie an ex- 
tent and variety of mineral and agricultural lands which, 
taken together, are unsurpassed by the same area anywhere 
else in the United States. 



WYTHE CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 49 

Alternating with each other, in the south side of the 
county, are wonderful veins and deposits of Iron ores, Man- 
ganese ores, and Lead and Zinc ores of extraordinary purity. 
While in the northern half of the county fine magnetic and 
brown ores lie close to good workable veins of semi-bitumin- 
ous and semi-anthracite coal. Lying between these great 
mineral belts, and interlaced with them, are fine blue-grass 
and farming lands of a high order, mineral springs not being 
uncommon. 

HOW WATERED. 

The county is well watered by New Eiver (which flows 
through the southeastern portion of the county), and some 
of its principal tributaries, such as Cripple Creek and Eeed 
Creek. These streams, with their many minor tributaries, 
leave but a small space of the whole area which is not 
thoroughly well watered, and, like all mountain streams of 
the section, are unfailing. 

New Eiver yields, at the "Wythe Lead Mines, about 1,500 
cubic feet per second. Eeed Creek, watering the central and 
northern portions of the county, passes, at different points, 
from 30 up to 180 cubic feet per second; while Cripple 
Creek, watering the southwestern portion of the county, 
yields nearly as much, presenting much excellent water 
power throughout the county, as the descent is sufficient to 
give, on every two miles' length of the smaller streams, a fall 
of over twelve feet average; while New Eiver, except the 
twelve feet at Pearce's Falls, shows an average fall per mile 
of about eight feet. 

GEOLOGICAL. 

Beginning on the south side of the county, and proceeding 

north in the description, Wythe County holds the rocks of 

nearly all the epochs, and their subdivisions between the 
4 



50 



WYTHE CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 



Huronian and Cambrian on the south, and the Proto-Carbon- 
iferous toward the north side of the county, and in nearly 
all the eras represented by these rocks nature seems to have 
expanded herself to the full in a lavish deposition of some of 
the best and most useful ores. 

As will be seen by examining the accompanying sections, 
the Potsdam sandstones, and subjacent hydro-mica slates and 
conglomerates, compose the Iron Mountain mainly. Only 
here and there do the felspars, which are so common in 
Grayson, to the south, assume any importance. This Iron 
Mountain is then flanked on the north by the red Calciferous 
slates, the Potsdam and Calciferous being usually separated 
by an extraordinary band of brown iron ore and manganese 
ores of great thickness and persistency. Next to the north 
of the red slates are the great bands of variegated limestones, 
holding dolomites (sometimes bedded on bands of silicious 
limestones), Avhich are the gangue of the unsurpassed lead 
and zinc deposits now being so well developed in the New 
River section. 

In these rocks are also the deposits of iron sulphurets, 
which, decomposing, have left such vast deposits of pure 
brown iron ore. 

Passing north of this line, crossing the line of Cripple 
Creek and New River, there are found the upturned edges of 
these same rocks again, but now dipping southwardly, as on 
the south side they dipped northwardly for the most part, or 
were so overturned as to dip southwardly in reverse order ; 
altogether making of the south side of the county a great 
trough-like basin, flanked on the south by Iron Mountain, 
and on the north by Lick Mountain, and its continuation, 
Draper's Mountain. 

In Lick Mountain, in the center of the county, the Potsdam 
rocks, with their peculiar fossil — the Scolithus — form a great 
broken anticlinal, giving way on the north side to the band 



WYTHE CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 51 

of red Calciferous slates and shales, from which they are sepa- 
rated by the usual bands of iron and manganese ores. On 
the north of this is the great band of Lower Silurian or upper 
Calciferous limestones, with steep dips flanked on the north 
of Wytheville by the brown sandstones and black slates of 
Pine Ridge for the west half of the county, but by a repetition 
of the same limestones further east in the direction of Mas 
Meadows. To the north of these the conditions materially 
change, the persistency of strata from northeast to south- 
west being broken by the influence of the great cross flexures 
and compressions common to the range of mountains just 
north of this line — in the north boundary of the county. 
Thus, passing north of Wytheville and west of Queen's Knob, 
you encounter the upturned edges of Lower Silurian lime- 
stones — here and there showing magnetic and brown iron ores 
and variegated marble — until you reach a great fault at the 
south base of Little "Walker's Mountain ; there you are sud- 
denly brought into contact with the rocks of the Proto-Car- 
boniferous, holding good coal veins. But when you pass 
east of Queen's Knob, for nearly the whole of that portion of 
the county there has been no bringing up, on so large a scale, 
of the Lower Silurian limestones. On the contrary, very valu- 
able areas of the Lower Coal Measures still remain, as those 
north of Clark's Summit and Max Meadows. To the north of 
these, as in the Cove, is a band of the lower limestones again, 
running up into the Hudson River and Clinton series in the 
Cove Mountain, but flanked on the north by the great fault 
just mentioned, at the south foot of Little Walker's Moun- 
tain, bringing in the Proto-Carboniferous dipping south- 
wardly. 

These measures are underlaid in the heart of Little Walker's 
Mountain, by Devonian rocks, including the representative of 
the Olean conglomerate, and these again are underlaid in 
regular order by the slates and shales of the Marcellus, Ham- 



52 



"WYTHE CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 



MOT U0 'I 



S (nI-nou 

3S3NV0NVW 



9Uffl 

-_ N 

Jt3M%(IV3fi g> 




4 OT s.q.vjtm 377717 



«^-hb — a — §— 



WYTHE CO. — COAL. 53 

ilton, Corniferous, and Oriskany series, to get to them passing 
through the American equivalent of the Old Eed Sandstone. 
Next to the north of these, in regular order, dipping south- 
wardly, are the rocks of the Upper Silurian Age, including 
the Dyestone iron ore series, taking us to the Oneida grit in 
the heart of Big Walker's Mountain — our north boundary 
line for Wythe County. 

COAL. 

Wythe holds a very respectable area of the upper New 
River series of coal measures. This coal is usually assigned 
to the Proto-Carboniferous Epoch. It shows thirteen distinct 
veins, and many of the fossils developed would lead one as 
readily to place this coal in one epoch as * another, except, 
perhaps, the upper measures. 

As may be seen in the accompanying map, the coal is con- 
fined to the northern side of the county, running along the 
south base of Little Walker's Mountain, except a consider- 
able area in the northeast side, which spreads southwardly, 
extending to and just over the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio 
Railroad ; this condition being observable near to, as well 
as about four miles east of Max Meadows Depot. 

The veins of coal in the south flank of Little Walker's 
Mountain run, almost continuously for twenty-four miles, 
through that part of the county, with a general average dip 
of 30°, trend north, 70° east. 

These outcrops are then separated from those nearer the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad by an uprising of lower 
rocks, as in Cove Mountain and the little ridge just south of 
it. Thus the area in which the openings have been made 
near Max Meadows may be said to be about six miles long, 
east and west, and two miles wide from north to south, at its 
widest. 

The veins in Little Walker's Mountain have been opened 



54 WYTHE CO.— COAL. 

at several points along their length in the county, notably at 
Boyd's Mine, where the Stony Fork of Reed Creek cuts 
through the mountain ; at Asa Brown's ; at two or three 
places north of Rural Retreat Depot in the west end, and at 
Brown's Coal Bank, in the Cove. 

As already remarked, these veins number thirteen so far as 
known. Beginning below is an eight-inch seam, bedded upon 
a thin stratum of quartzeous black slate overlying a heavy 
band of grindstone grit. Next above this seam are ten feet 
of black slate and hard sandstone, the sandstone being the 
foot wall of a three-feet vein of semi-bituminous coal of good 
quality ; overlying this, are twenty feet of alternate bands of 
black and gray slates and shales ; then twenty-one inches of 
really excellent naming bituminous coal, of which the analysis 
appears below ; then thirty feet of gray and black slates and 
shales and thin bedded sandstones, leading up to a fourteen- 
inch vein of good bituminous coal ; then one hundred feet of 
alternations of gray slates and thin sandstones, holding nine 
veins of coal, no one of which is a loot thick. These meas- 
ures are not constant, though the veins are continuous for 
great distances. The disturbances to which they have been 
subjected have caused them, in places (as at Stony Fork), to 
sometimes assume a thickness of eight feet for short dis- 
tances. This may be owing to end compressions, as well as 
to folding from the opposite direction. 

In the Max Meadows and Clark's Summit coal area, the 
most important openings are those made by Joseph Crockett, 
two and a half miles north of Max Meadows Depot, showing 
coal eight feet thick : and by Draper and others, one mile 
north of Clark's Summit, near the Pulaski line. This coal, 
for the greater part of the area, is of a semi-bituminous va- 
riety, nearly approachingan anthracite. At the Draper and 
Clark opening the coal dips southwardly, showing several 
good veins, the best of which is six feet thick. These veins 



WYTHE CO. — IKON. 55 

occupy a basin, the southern rim of which is one quarter of a 
mile south of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio liailroad, just 
east of Clark's Summit. 

The analysis of the coal from Stony Fork is as follows, by 
Thomas Egleston : 

Water. 0.34 

Volatile combustible matter 21.30 

Fixed carbon 70.32 

Sulphur 1.61 

Ash 6.43 

The coal, the analysis of which is just shown, from Little 
"Walker's Mountain, is much preferred by blacksmiths. It is 
also used to some extent in grates in the town of Wytheville, 
giving very general satisfaction. 

The quantity so far taken from these veins does not exceed 
twelve hundred tons. From the excellent coke this coal 
makes, and its nearness to existing lines of through transpor- 
tation, it should assume a much more important position than 
it now occupies. 

IKON. 

Broivn Iron Ore. 
It is difficult to know where to begin the description of 
what is commonly known as " brown hematite iron ore," 
there is so much of it, of a superior grade, in different parts 
of the county. The first great continuous horizon of it, men- 
tioned in describing the geology, occupies a position in the 
north flank of Iron Mountain, near the division between the 
Potsdam and Calciferous sub-epochs. It is in the continuation 
of the same great belt described as existing in the north flank 
of Pilot Mountain, in Montgomery County, and in the Laurel 
Creek country in Pulaski County. In Wythe County, at 
nearly any point you choose to inspect along the range, you 
will find heavy masses of this brown ore, sometimes mixed 



56 WYTHE CO. — ANALYSIS BY J. BLODGETT BEITTON. 

with manganiferous iron ore, and sometimes giving way to 
pure manganese ore. This great vein often attains a thick- 
ness of more than one hundred feet, but does not yield as 
fine a quality of ore as the deposits which lie nearer to the 
lead and zinc horizon. 

The quantity of ore which this immense vein will yield in 
the county, on the Iron Mountain spurs, is far greater than 
that of all other deposits combined ; but, as a general rule, 
contains a few hundredths more of phosphorus than will ad- 
mit it as a strictly Bessemer ore, as may be seen from an in- 
spection of the analysis here given by Mr. Bbitton, of ore 
from this horizon : 

ANALYSIS BY J. BLODGETT BEITTON. 

Metallic iron 57.98 

Insoluble silicious matter 49 

Sulphur 19 

Phosphorus 29 

This ore can be seen in large masses by following up Fran- 
cis Mill Creek near to its head, upon which are now located 
the Sayers and Oglesby Furnace, and the Noble Furnace. 
These furnaces, however, as will be seen further on, derive 
their ores from the purer horizon nearer the lead and zinc 
lead. It has been remarked, in the description of Mont- 
gomery County, that this Iron Mountain or Pilot Mountain 
deposit of brown ore is derived from the decomposition of 
sulphurets ; a decomposition, however, which seems to have 
been carried to great depths. Within the Calciferous rocks, 
and within nine hundred yards to the north of the vein just 
described, there are two more deposits, more or less con- 
tinuous, rarely ever exceeding twenty feet in thickness, 
and very much the same kind of ore. This series of veins 
extends, almost continuously, the whole length of the south 
side of the county. 



WITHE CO. — THE SECOND HORIZON OF BROWN ORES. 57 

The Second Horizon of Brown Ores. 

Going northwardly, the next great belt of brown ores, are 
those extending from near the mouth of Keed Island Creek 
up the New Eiver (both sides) to the mouth of Cripple Creek ; 
thence up that creek to its head, into Smyth County, whence 
they pass on to the southwest. 

This truly great and valuable band of ores is the one lying 
about the Lead and Zinc Belt, and upon which are located 
the furnaces and forges chiefly. It is sometimes several 
miles in width, being governed in this by the gentleness or 
steepness of the dip of the great band of rocks holding the 
lead and zinc. This ore, as has been stated, is due to the 
decomposition of sulphureted ores ; and the hills in which it 
is usually found, being from 80 to 200 feet above the neigh- 
boring water-courses, there is mining and stripping above the 
undecomposed ore for many years to come. This band of ore, 
as on the old furnace lands of David Graham, seems some- 
times to occupy a fissure in the great limestone belt. This 
may very well be true. It is plain that there has been fissure 
action along that line. A close inspection of the Old Lead 
Mines shows that lead, zinc, and iron have all been so acted 
upon by the heat resulting from pressure as to have been 
fused and interjected into the gangue surrounding and above 
it. 

Following the zone either way a short distance from the old 
lead mines, you see these same measures resume their orig- 
inal position as a stratification between well-defined ledges. 
On the Graham lands this fissure action is evident from the 
lode cutting across the trend of the strata. And it can be ac- 
counted for by recurring to the action of the forces engaged 
in folding the earth's crust thereabouts. The crumpling or 
folding action was evidently from southeast to northwest, and 
where fragments of the crust did not slide up upon each other in 



58 WYTHE CO. — THE SECOND HOKIZON OF BROWN ORES. 

monoclinal shape, they proved " pieces of resistance " to each 
other, to such an extent that, in order to satisfy the general, 
conditions of the whole action, they were crushed and fused 
by the great pressure, bringing about fissure action in the at- 
tempt of fused matter, gases, etc., to break their way to the 
atmosphere above. In the extract quoted on page 59, Sir 
Robert Mallet gives a very good general formula deduced from 
his reasoning on the subject of Volcanic Force and Energy : 
but in this district these calculations would have to be based, 
perhaps, upon somewhat different data than those assumed 
by him. Not to be guilty of too great a diversion just here, 
it may be as well to say that the once-heated substance of the 
earth, in cooling, no doubt left a crust upon the outer surface, 
which, as the whole continued to cool inward, was left more 
or less unsustained, except by its own strength as a great arch. 
This arch or crust, not being able to sustain its own pressure, 
gave way in certain lines of fracture (some of which are rep- 
resented by the trend of the Alleghanies and Blue Ridge 
Mountains), now represented by great fragments extruded 
and riding up upon each other, the force from the opposite 
direction (as the force of compression is supposed to have 
been equal in all directions upon the spherical arch) being 
compensated by cross flexures and the interlacing and inter- 
sliding of great fragments. Hence, though it may appear im- 
practicable to apply the formula given — which was, no doubt, 
based upon equal resistance to a pressure exerted from all 
sides alike — still the study of it may lead to a determination 
of the problem as to the probable depth at which the fusing 
took place in this instance. To the general reader this de- 
parture may be of no interest whatever, but it is interesting 
to some individuals to inquire into many of these things which 
are puzzling the curious of our day and generation; and it 
may be appropriate to submit the conjecture, before dismiss- 
ing the subject, that the great lines of fracture represented by 



WYTHE CO. — MALLET ON VOLCANIC ENERGY. 59 

the position of the Alleghanies, Blue Ridge, Rocky Mountains, 
and other mountains, have resulted from lines of vibration in 
the earth's crust, established in their direction by known 
forces, commencing, no doubt, with the first movements of the 
earth upon its axis, and gathering in intensity and definite- 
ness, having been modified and somewhat controlled by the 
different forces of magnetism and gravitation which were 
exerted, from time to time, by other heavenly bodies. 

SIR ROBT. MALLET ON VOLCANIC ENERGY. 

In treating the subject of the immense geological forma- 
tion holding the iron, lead, and zinc in Wythe and adjacent 
counties, it is thought wise to introduce the following inter- 
esting exposition regarding the probable history of the veins, 
as illustrated by a quotation from the elaborate paper of Sir 
Robert Mallet, F.R.S., upon kindred subjects. 

In an excellent treatise on Volcanic Energy, by Sir Robert 
Mallet, F.R.S., etc., kindly loaned the author by Professor 
Francis Smith, of the University of Virginia, are found, not 
only the formula mentioned on the preceding page, but a re- 
markably clear and able exposition of the origin of volcanic 
force and energy. Sir Robert Mallet employs his trained 
mathematical reasoning and elaborate experiments with won- 
derful tact ; and not only the writer, but numerous others 
would be delighted to see him engage in an investigation, to 
show whether the expansive force of the heat of the still- 
heated nucleus of the earth has anything to do in counter- 
acting the pressure of the arched crust upon itself, which, 
without any such check, would at once, by its own gravita- 
tion, begin to be exerted with destructive effect ; this ex- 
pansive force itself being held in equilibrium by the nicely- 
proportioned weight of the superincumbent dome, having 
such a thickness and weight as would be required to sup- 



60 



WYTHE CO. — MALLET ON VOLCANIC ENERGY. 



press a dangerous excess of expansive energy from below. 
Such an investigation, in such able hands, might lead to a 
clear and incontrovertible showing of the thickness of the 
earth's crust, within a few thousand feet of the truth. 

The author will present the formula, with the theorem 
upon which it is based, leaving to the reader to investigate 
the ivhole subject in Sir Eobert's paper. 

" If a curved surface (of the nature of a hollow shell or membrane) be in 
equilibrium when exposed to forces acting normally to the surface every- 
where, then the normal pressure at any point is equal to the force in the di- 
rection of the surface (or shell) at that point multiplied into the sum of the 
reciprocals of the principal radii of curvature. 

**** **** 

" 83. Let P (Fig. 7) be the normal pressure upon the unit of surface (square 
inch or mile) cut from a pair of intersecting ribbons of the curved surface, as 

a, b, and c, d, at 
right angles to each 
other, and of unit 
breadth ; I 1 the tan- 
gential thrust on 
any of the faces of 
the unit square, re- 
spectively opposite 
( which, as being 
small in relation to 
the radii of curva- 
ture, may be con- 
sidered as plane). 
" Let the two ra- 
dii of principal curvature (in a, b, and c, d,) be g } and g 2 , then, as expressed 
in the theorem, 

p=t( 1 +±) i. 

\g t g 2 / 
" T 1 having the same value. 

" As regards the present application of the theorem, as the differences of 
g, andg; forourglobe are very small (comparable with the difference between 
the polar and equatorial radii), and scarcely sensibly affect the curvature of 
the surface within limited areas, we may consider our globe as spherical, 
and gi — g. t , whence Equation I. becomes 

2T 
9 ' 




P = 



II. 



And 



P x 



2' 



III. 



With this formula, which is sustained by such eminent 
authority as " Lagrange " and " Professor E. S. Ball," of 



WYTHE CO. — THE SECOND HORIZON OF BROWN ORES. 61 

Dublin, Sir Robert calculates the thrust or pressure near the 
earth's surface, represented by T, to be 952,666 tons per 
square foot, basing the calculation upon the density and re- 
sistance of granite, which pressure is 472 times greater than 
is necessary to crush granite or porphyry. 

For a continuation of the subject, the reader is referred to 
the paper by Sir Robert Mallet, recorded in the " Philo- 
sophical Transactions of the Royal Society," June 20th, 1872. 

To return to the subject of the brown iron ore of the great 
belt of Wythe, it is of such importance, both from its purity 
and quantity, that it can very truthfully be declared worthy 
of a full discussion, both as to its origin and the accidents to 
which it has been subjected; but brief space renders it neces- 
sary to give all the information obtained in relation to it in as 
few words as possible. 

Perhaps the largest development of these ores near the 
eastern, or Pulaski side of the county, will be found at Rich 
Hill, the property of Forney, and on Little Reed Island Creek, 
a mile or more south. No exact measure of these deposits 
is possible to be taken. That they are very extensive the wide 
surface showings amply prove ; and at the beds in Little 
Reed Island Creek, the ores show for hundreds of feet in 
width, in terrace shape, about 60 feet above the present level 
of the creek — the only probable evidence of the terrace epoch 
in this section of the country. These ores have resulted, in 
all probability, not only from the decomposition of adjacent 
sulphurets, but the creek at a remote day has no doubt 
brought them down in solution from the great decomposing 
sulphureted beds and veins of iron and copper in the coun- 
ty of Carroll above. That they are in surprising masses, and 
in the position indicated, the most casual examination will 
show. 

From these latter beds the " Boom Furnace " will derive the 
most of its ores when completed. The next good showing is 



62 WYTHE CO. — THE SECOND HORIZON OF BROWN ORES. 

at Graham's new furnace, south bank of New River. The 
next great outcrop then is at the old Peirce ore bank, about 
two-thirds of a mile south of Peirce's Falls on New River. A 
quantity of this ore was at one time used at the Old Poplar 
Camp Forge, now not in existence. This ore is evidently 
bedded on a limestone foot wall, which has a dip toward south- 
west of about 45°, and is distant from the uprising hard Pots- 
dam sandstone in Roaring Falls Mountain about one-fourth 
of a mile to the southwest. It appears to be over 40 feet 
thick at this point, trending east and west. 

Then again, near the new furnace of the Wythe County 
Mining and Manufacturing Co., near Peirce's Falls, is a new 
opening in the ore of great richness and value. From both 
these places the furnace last mentioned will derive its ore. 

A section taken north and south, across the general direc- 
tion of this series in the neighborhood, determines the ore 
field to be not less than two and three-quarter miles broad, 
which is divided nearly equally by New River at Peirce's 
Falls. Thus, on the north side of the river, nearly opposite 
the last-named furnace, is that part of this rich ore belt in 
which one of the first iron-masters of the section, Mr. David 
Graham, located his first furnace and the forge, rolling-mill 
and nail works, now known as Graham's Forge. Although a 
great deal of ore has been both stripped and mined in this 
neighborhood, it is highly probable that the great body of the 
ore still remains intact. A most cursory examination will 
show the great limestones, which accompany the lead and 
zinc veins, outcropping throughout this part of the ore belt. 
Their dip is usually southwardly through the Graham lands, 
but this is by no means constant. Holding as they do large 
quantities of sulphurets, their decomposition (sometimes in 
situ) has left large quantities of a pure brown iron ore. It is 
in this immediate section, near the residence of D. P. Graham, 
that twelve feet thickness of sulphuret may be noticed, just 



WYTHE CO. — THE SECOND HORIZON OF BROWN ORES. 63 

below water level, in a fissure between great masses of the 
limestone. This is a part of the fissure referred to on page 
58. It is also alluded to in a paper on this section, reported 
in the " Transactions of the American Institute of Mining En- 
gineers," vol. v., page 85, also in a report on the " Minerals of 
New River," made by the author to Col. Win. P. Craighill of 
the U. S. Engineers, Exec. Doc, Nov. 25th, Third Session, 
45th Congress, U. S. 

Then, again, as you proceed southwest, in a section taken 
across this series of ores, near the old Wythe lead and zinc 
mines, the same broad exhibit of surface showing is to be 
found. Over the Lead Mine's Hill, south of New River, and 
in the vicinity of Walton Furnace, about two miles north of 
the river, these excellent brown ores have been mined and 
their intrinsic value fully tested. 

It is possible that these ores make a metal that has no 
superior for car-wheels and all other purposes requiring an 
iron of uniform strength. 

Then, again, going southwest, this series shows other great 
deposits in the vicinity of Brown Hill Furnace, Cripple 
Creek, the ores now mined there being taken from the great 
lead and zinc band near Abraham Painters, the deposits of 
iron ore being within 150 feet of the zinc ores. 

In fact the original sulphureted veins are now known to 
alternate with the veins of lead and zinc, though generally 
distinct. This ore, which has been in use for some time at 
Brown Hill Furnace, assays as follows for Mr. John M. Sher- 
RARD, analyst : 

Metallic iron 55.702 

Silica 4.590 

Phosphorus 0.0745 

Then, one-half mile north of Brown Hill Furnace, the same 



64 WYTHE CO. — THE SECOND HORIZON OF BROWN ORES. 

band of rocks outcrop, yielding very much the same kind of 
ore. 

A few miles west of the last-named vicinity the old forge 
lands of the late Alexander Peirce present the same general 
features, showing this brown iron ore in masses sufficient to 
warrant the belief of its existence in very large quantities, 
such as would be required to carry on operations of some 
magnitude. In some places the mass of strata, which, by de- 
composing, has given such immense surface quantities of this 
ore, is fully 180 feet thick, as found in position almost undis- 
turbed. 

Then, again, at the old Eagle Furnace, for miles on both 
sides of Cripple Creek, these same conditions are observable. 

The old Lockett and Huddle Forges, now out of use, have 
sent some of the finest blooms to market, made from these 
ores, that perhaps were ever made. Except for small quan- 
tities of impurities, other than sulphur and phosphorus, the 
blooms were chemically pure. 

A few miles farther west this series makes surface show- 
ings more southwardly. The Ravenscliff Furnace, the fur- 
nace of Sayers & Oglesby, the new furnaces on and near 
Francis Mill Creek, and the Noble and Beverly furnaces de- 
rive and expect to obtain their ores from beds of this series, 
which are well nigh thrust up within the area covered by 
the Iron Mountain ores proper ; but still they are decided- 
ly distinct, the accompanying variegated limestones pecu- 
liar to the lead and zinc measures at once betraying their 
origin. 

Here these ores form a body which will yield not less than 
one million of tons, together with its immediately neighbor- 
ing deposits of the same series. 

A close analysis rendered by Mr. James Aumann and 
others gives nearly the following results : 







BROWN HILL FURNACE. WYTHE CO., VA. 
(P. (M.) 



WYTHE CO. — THE SECOND HORIZON OF BROWN ORES. 65 



No. 1. — Air Dry. 

Metallic iron 58.149 ^ 

Water 12.96 Powder a deep reddish 

Alumina 2. 32 brown. 

Silica 109 I The roasted oregave 67.235 



Magnesia Trace. 

Phosphorus None. 



per cent, of metallic iron. 



No. 2. — Air Dry. 

Metallic iron 55.54 "| 

Water 11.72 I 

Alumina 5.89 i Roasted, the ore gave 63.04 

Silica 2.73 f per cent, of metallic iron. 

Magnesia Trace. 

Phosphorus None. 



No. 3. — Air Dry, 

Metallic iron 47.82 1 

Alumina 11.53 

Water 10.83 

Silica 9.87 

Magnesia 0.06 

Phosphorus None. 



Roasted, the ore gave 53.28 
per cent, of metallic iron. 



Next to the southwest in this series occur the ores used 
by the old Porter Forge — of excellent character. Then, 
again, near to and just south of the Speedwell Furnace, these 
ores outcrop, across their general direction, for more than a 
mile. Their excellence and purity still remain a chief feature. 

Then, again and again, as you proceed southwest, toward 
Smyth County, the same peculiar brown iron ore, either com- 
pact or honeycombed, makes its appearance, staining the 
soil red all along with a color peculiar to the ore. 

It will be impossible to give any approximate idea of the 
quantity this great lead of iron ore will yield. That it will 
go high into the millions developments will no doubt amply 
prove. 



66 WYTHE CO. — BROWN ORES. 

The Brown Iron Ores and Manganiferous Ores of Lick and 
Draper's Mountains. 

The ores of this series belong to the same horizon as those 
in the north spurs of the Iron Mountain and Pilot Mountain, 
and their general character is nearly the same, though they 
occasionally yield an ore of high purity. 

Some of these veins and deposits are exceedingly massive, 
often running for great distances, preserving a thickness 
measuring sometimes one hundred and fifty feet, but usually 
not over twenty-eight or thirty feet, the fine manganiferous 
ore of the Glade Ore Bank not being over ten feet thick. 

Both in Lick Mountain, on either side, and in Draper's 
Mountain, these ores are persistent, and give the following 
results by analysis : 

No. 1. — Taken from a deposit of Kent & Stuart's, near A. Hoilman's, south of 
Wytheville; analyzed by Dr. J. W. Mallet, gave the following 
results : 

Ferric oxide 77.46 — Metallic iron, 54.43. 

Manganese oxide 0.64 

Alumina 1.07 

Lime 32 

Magnesia 45 

Silica and insoluble silicious matter 10.60 

Phosphorus protoxide 0.27 

Organic matter Trace. 

Water 8.72 



No. 2, by the same chemist 46.62 p. ct. met 

No. 3, " " from the Sun Rocks 55.61 " 

No. 4, " " Stroup's Branch 46.85 " 

No. 5, " " 6+ miles south of Wytheville, 46.32 " 
No. 6, " " above Hudson's 59.16 " 



These ores are all of the horizon in the lowest part of the 
Calciferous beds, and lower than the lead and zinc zone. 



WYTHE CO. — BROWN ORES. 67 

They may be said to extend in lines, not so persistent from 
the "Wythe-Pulaski line, just south of Clark's Summit, through 
Draper's and Lick Mountains, in the direction of the White 
Eock or Panic Furnace, but dying out with Lick Mountain, 
before reaching the Wythe-Smyth boundary line. They 
again come up in the series of ridges making up Glade and 
White Kock Mountains in Smyth County, and are fully de- 
scribed in detail in the chapters on Smyth County. 

Going northwardly, passing oyer some minor deposits in 
the Coal Measures, in the eastern end of the county, and a 
band of Oriskany brown ores in the south of Cove Mountain 
and Queen's Knob, the next deposit of magnitude is in a line 
of ores extending through Crockett's Cove, and found in posi- 
tion between the Black River and Trenton limestones, from 
six to eighteen feet in thickness. This range of ores extends 
from the western termination of Queen's Knob, through the 
above cove, nearly to the northeast corner of the county, 
yielding an ore generally regarded as being of good quality. 

The Cove ore, just mentioned, together with the band of 
ores lying near the Coal Measures in Little Walker's Moun- 
tain, and the Oriskany brown ores and others in Big Walk- 
er's Mountain, make up quite a respectable aggregate for the 
north side of the county. 

The Coal Measure ores seem to present two distinct bands : 
one lying just south of the measures throughout the whole 
length of the county, giving masses frequently 10 feet thick, 
and the other a vein 30 feet above the upper coal vein, about 
18 inches, and, likewise, persistent. The analysis of the first 
by Thomas Egleston, of Columbia College, is as follows : 

Metallic iron 57.7 

Silica • 1.56 

Sulphur 0.085 

Phosphorus 0.850 



68 •WYTHE CO. — BROWN ORES. 

The analysis of the Coal Measure brown ore taken from 
Stony Fork Gap, is as follows, by the same chemist : 

Metallic iron 54.00 

Silica 8.71 

Sulphur 0.104 

Phosphorus 0.205 

After this, and last of any consequence, is the Oriskany 
brown ore in the south slope of Big "Walker's Mountain. 
This measure is often 18 to 20 feet thick, sometimes perfectly 
free from silica, but usually well mixed with it ; sometimes 
highly manganiferous, and occasionally replaced by manga- 
nese. Fragments of this ore taken from near where the 
Tazewell Turnpike crosses this ore series, give the following 
analysis by Thomas Egleston : 

Metallic iron 43.5 

Silica 27.60 

Sulphur 0.158 

Phosphorus 0.082 

This band of ore is generally persistent, and frequently 
along its length in Wythe County yields fine bodies of ore 
of both iron and manganese. 

To conclude the chapter on brown iron ores, it might be 
appropriate to give some idea of the quantity the county of 
Wythe is likely to yield. An impartial examination into this 
question of quantity will leave any one at a loss to approxi- 
mate the great array of figures necessary to determine it. 
Could these brown ores, the magnetic ores, and the red iron 
ores of the county be brought together, such would be the 
quantity, and such the general character, that it would be 
difficult to find anywhere else all the conditions so favorable 
for the production of a high grade of metal on a large scale. 



WYTHE CO. — RED IEON ORES. 69 



Red Iron Ores. 



Occasionally in the great New River and Cripple Creek 
series of brown ores, the ores will assume the character of a 
red or true hematite, but these instances are only local. 

No doubt there are valuable bands of specular ore in Iron 
Mountain, but they have not been sufficiently explored yet 
to determine their exact position, measures, quality, etc. 

But Wythe County, like Washington, and the west end of 
Smyth County, possesses a valuable band of semi-magnetic 
red iron ores, which sometimes attains a thickness of 15 feet, 
and rarely measures less than 9 feet. 

What is known as the Yost, or Blair ore bank, found two 
miles northwest from Wytheville, is in this series. It yields 
as follows, by the analysis of Thomas Egleston of Columbia 
College : 



- - o v 



Metallic iron 61.7 

Silica 4.21 

Sulphur 0.096 

Phosphorus 0.075 

Much of the ore in this band will do better than the above 
in every respect ; and, as to quantity, so unusual has it been 
to attribute any large quantity of ore to the northern side of 
the county, by the old iron workers on the south side, that it 
would be difficult to convince the general public of the fine 
prospect that a good yield of ore may be expected from the 
beds under discussion. An examination of this line of ores, 
extending over a period of several years, shows that the ore 
near Wytheville is not an accidental deposit, but belongs to 
a series, composed sometimes of more than one vein, which 
belongs geologically to a system of rocks near what are 
known as the St. Peter sandstones, sometimes next to them. 



70 WYTHE CO. — SULPHUKETED IKON ORES. 

and again separated from them by a broad band of black 
slates and dark ferruginous sandstones. In Washington 
County this condition is amply shown at the Gollaher ore 
bank, four miles east of Abingdon, as well as at other points. 

It is on the north side of Pine Eidge, in "Wythe County, 
that the best exhibits of this ore are found, and a farther 
and closer examination, in the thirteen miles length on the 
west side of the county, is expected to show several valuable 
deposits. 

The only other band of red iron ore in the county yet ex- 
plored is the dyestone, or fossil band on the south flank of 
Big Walker's Mountain, near the north boundary line of the 
county. This ore is in two distinct measures — one, the fos- 
sil ore, 18 inches thick, made up of aggregations of fossils 
and pebbles, yielding rarely over 45 per cent, of iron. The 
other is an ore of compact slaty structure, which will yield 
more iron no doubt, and would be a fine ore to mix with 
other varieties. This latter is found three feet thick on the 
road leading from Mount Airy to Eich Valley. 

Magnetic Iron Ore. 

Except in the red ores, two miles northwest from Wythe- 
ville, magnetic ore is not positively located in Wythe County 
in any appreciable quantities. In the Iron Mountain a vein 
of this ore is reported. This report is credited by a great 
many iron men, but as yet it is not positively ascertained. 

Sulphureted Iron Ores. 

It is the belief of the author that all the ores enumerated, 
except the dyestone ores, and the stratum of ore nearest the 
coal measures, are derived from the decomposition of sul- 
phureted ores. This opinion has been adopted after a long 
and close study of all the deposits and their extensions at 



WYTHE CO. — LEAD AND ZINC. 



71 



many different points. But tlie quantity of iron sulphuret, 
known as such, in the count} r , is great. 

In the lead and zinc veins, and in strata lying near to 
them, are large quantities of iron pyrites. This taken in 
connection with the quantity of sulphuret below water level, 
underlying the great iron veins mentioned, must aggregate 
so vast a quantity as to be without limit. 

MANGANESE. 

The localities in which manganese is found in any quantity 
are Iron Mountain, the Reed Island country, Lick and Dra- 
per's Mountains, the Glade, and Big Walker's Mountain. 

The manganese ores in the north spurs of Iron Mountain 
are sometimes quite pure and abundant ; usually as black 
oxide, but occasionally a handsome crystalline ore of high 
purity. The ores near New River, above the mouth of Reed 
Island Creek, belong to the variety known as Manganese 
Cream, and seem to be abundant. 

At the Glade ore bank, four miles southwest from Max 
Meadows Depot, the manganese is found both combined with 
and entirely distinct from the iron ore. It appears to be in 
quantities. 

In Lick and Draper's Mountains there are occasional de- 
posits, the extent of which is not yet fully known. The ores 
found in Big Walker's Mountain are those mentioned as run- 
ning with the Oriskany Rocks. They are now and then very 
pure and handsome. 

LEAD AND ZINC. 

It would be a pleasure to give a very thorough arid com- 
plete description of the lead and zinc deposits of Wythe ; 
their geological position, the kind of rocks in which they 
occur, and their exact thickness ; together with a complete 



72 WYTHE CO. — LEAD AND ZINC. 

history of their discovery and utilization. But it is feared 
that many interesting points will be overlooked ; not through 
any disposition to slight one of the most important and in- 
teresting subjects mentioned in the book, but want of space 
compels brevity. 

Geological. — The lower rocks of No. 2, in which occur the 
great lead and zinc series of Southwestern Virginia, pass 
almost continuously through the whole length of the south- 
ern section of Wythe County ; not always presenting the 
strata of like richness in ore throughout, but over consider- 
able areas, developing the veins in thick and massive meas- 
ures. Here and there, the strata next in order beneath have 
been thrust up so prominently across the direction of the 
series, as to cause the extrusion and consequent loss of some 
of the lead and zinc ores. 

The rocks in which the ores occur are usually mentioned 
as dolomites, but this statement cannot be fully accepted, as 
much of the material accompanying the ore strata is a highly 
crystalline limestone, sometimes silicious. It would be diffi- 
cult to say precisely how far above the last of the Scolithus- 
marked sandstones the lead and zinc zone lies. The two are 
separated by alternations of red Calciferous slates, and blue 
and white limestones, in some places nearly 900 yards thick, 
with the immediate ore-bearing ledges generally, but not 
always, resting upon silicious limestone. The ore-bearing 
strata is marked all the way through by a wavy white and 
blue spotted limestone, looking as though it was once full of 
what now appears an indistinct fossil ; or, perhaps, owing its 
appearance to gentle wave action in a shallow, chopping sea. 
The ore strata along the continuation of the series in a direc- 
tion north 70° east, and south 70° west, dips at various angles. 
At the old "Wythe Lead and Zinc Mines, at Austinville, New 
River, the measures and dips are as follows : The principal 
vein was found 40 feet thick, dipping south 20° east, at an 



WYTHE CO. — LEAD AND ZINC. 73 

angle of about 70°, reached by a tunnel 1,600 feet long, the 
shaft from the top of the hill clown to water level being 
about 245 feet in depth. The walls of the vein here are the 
so-called dolomite— highly crystalline. It is highly probable 
that this immediate portion of the series has been so acted 
upon by heat resulting from pressure that the original char- 
acter of the walls has been greatly changed ; but at Hen- 
drick's, formerly Kitchen & Painters', the original condi- 
tions are preserved. Thus, according to the measures taken 
there, a true reading is as follows : Beginning on the floor 
or southeast wall of the main measure, we have 141 feet of 
heavy zinc blende -bearing strata dipping northwest at an 
angle of 30" ; then 36 feet of dolomite with occasional 
spots of zinc and lead ; 36 feet of iron sulphuret and 
oxide ; 90 feet dolomite rock, containing large veins and de- 
posits of zinc and lead sulphuret, one of which is 18 feet 
thick ; 180 feet of iron, zinc, and barytes heavily disseminated 
in the rock ; then toward the northern side or hanging wall, 
an indefinite amount of crystalline limestone more or less 
charged with barytes. 

At the Bertha Zinc Mine, in the eastern or lower end of 
the county, and at Forney's Mine, next west of the Bertha, 
the mining has not extended below the decomposed surface 
ores, hence no exact measures have been taken there. At 
Sayers, on Little Beed Island Creek, lead sulphuret in 
some masses has been mined ; and toward the west end of the 
series, on Upper Cripple Creek, on land of D. C. James and 
others, west of that point, lead sulphuret and fragments of 
zinc ore are occasionally found. 

The kinds of zinc ores of the whole series are oxides, sul- 
phides, and large quantities of a silico-carbonate — both at the 
old Wythe Mines, at Austinville, and at the Bertha and For- 
ney's Mines. About 15,000 tons of zinc silicates and carbon- 
ates have been taken from surface mines at the Wythe Lead 



74: WYTHE CO. — LEAD AND ZINC MINES COMPANY. 

and Zinc Mines, and from the Bertha Mines about 2,100 tons 
of a very handsome silicate and carbonate, mixed with oxide, 
and smelted at the new zinc works at Martin's Station, 
Pulaski County, Virginia, yielding 30 per cent, of metal. 

In the deep workings of the Wythe Lead and Zinc Mines 
the zinc ore is a blende principally, as well as at the Crusen- 
berry & Kitchen Mine. At the latter two the ores of zinc 
and lead are sometimes alternately stratified. The great mass 
of these ores in the county is far above the power of compu- 
tation, as they are not only thick, but extend over much 
ground. The kinds of lead ore are, galena, carbonate, oxide, 
arseniate, phosphate, and occasionally molybdate ; galena 
being the most abundant ore, the carbonate is nearly ex- 
hausted, and the others exceedingly rare. 

THE FURNACE AND WORKS OF THE WYTHE LEAD AND ZINC MINES 

COMPANY. 

The first work done at these mines was about the year 
1756, the lead being reduced from the ore in the most prim- 
itive manner ; but it was not until the mines fell into the 
hands of Raper, Sr., and his associates, about 1830, that the 
old Scotch system was introduced. This, with some modifi- 
cations, is still in use. The power used to crush and separate 
the ores and gangue is derived from New River, upon the 
south bank of which the works are situated, and they now 
employ in the mines, furnaces and separators about 150 
men. 

In the last three years the company has constructed four 
round buddies, twelve jigs, and a new roasting reverberatory 
furnace ; having, also, introduced a fine air compressor to 
ventilate the mines with, and to run a Burleigh drill, the air 
being forced through a four-inch wrought-iron pipe. 

The company sells its zinc ores, only reducing the lead. 



WYTHE CO. — COPPER. 75 

The product of the mines is now three tons of metal daily. As 
the markets seem to justify it, this product is made into pig 
lead or shot, sometimes both. The shot tower in use is a shaft 
242 feet deep, situated nearly at the farther extremity of the 
1,600 feet tunnel. The shot is then loaded into a car on a 
tramway and run out to the shot-house at surface, where 
they are put through the process of separation, sizing, and 
glazing. The shot tower is, perhaps, one of the best in the 
world ; and, owing to the nature of the lead, the shot made is 
looked upon in the markets as the equal, if not the superior, 
of the best shot made anywhere else. 

It may be as well to say, before closing the subject, that 
the capital stock of this company is $400,000, divided into 
shares of twenty dollars each. 

COPPER. 

Many of the most valuable ores being so lavishly distrib- 
uted in different parts of the county, it would seem that it 
had already enough without attempting to enumerate others ; 
but so far as copper ore is known in "Wythe, the quantity 
ascertained is small. 

Beautiful specimens have been taken from ground near 
Abraham Painter's, by Gallimore, an experienced miner. 
They comprise both carbonates and sulphides, the former 
apparently resulting from the decomposition of the latter. 
It is not probable that the vein is a thick one. It occurs 
near the middle of an eighteen-feet measure of lead and 
zinc, mentioned in the description of the Lead and Zinc Zone. 

The slates of the Calciferous sub-epoch sometimes yield 
small quantities of Copper ore, but the only other deposit 
worthy of mention is a body of ore yielding nine per cent, 
of copper, lying one mile northwest from Max Meadows De- 
pot, which is supposed by many persons to* have resulted 



76 WYTHE CO. — MAEBLE. 

from glacial action. It is a sulphuret in course of decompo- 
sition, and may really be a larger deposit, and nearer its 
parent vein than is generally supposed ; for a long and 
patient examination of the line of Lower Silurian limestones 
on the north side of the Lick Mountain range, shows the 
baryta beds, which pass through the greater part of Wythe 
and Smyth counties, to be a copper-bearing series as well. 
Occasionally, this series shows very handsome bodies of 
copper ore ; and it may be taken with almost absolute cer- 
tainty, that the Max Meadow copper ores, as well as those 
showing in Smyth County, near Mount Airy, result from 
the disintegration of this series of rocks. 

GYPSUM. 

Hydrous sulphate of lime is found in beautiful crystals at 
Stoner's, on Cripple Creek, near where the Grayson turnpike 
crosses. The amount so far brought to the surface does not 
warrant a conjecture as to the probable quantity. Future 
developments may show much more than is now suspected. 

MAEBLE. 

The different varieties of variegated marble and onyx-like 
limestone in the county are very great. Handsome varieties 
of brown and red variegated ledges are found in heavy 
masses on the lands of Abraham Umbarger, three miles 
northwest from Wytheville, supposed to be Bird's Eye and 
Black Kiver series. The fossils contained in them are, how- 
ever, very indistinct, rendering it premature as yet to declare 
the exact age of the rocks. From these quarries stones of 
any size may be obtained. This series of rocks extends for 
many miles through the county, being thrown out east, by 
Queen's Knob, and passing westward into Smyth County, 
but not always presenting the same beautiful appearance. 



WYTHE CO. — KAOLIN. 77 

In Black Lick Township, near the residence of Mr. Davis, 
both the brown and nearly white varieties are found. 

At Frye's Hill, five miles southwest from Wytheville, the 
variety resembling onyx is found in masses about a large 
cave, no doubt derived from the decomposition of the soluble 
limestones of which the hill is composed. Many of these 
blocks are like alabaster in purity, translucent, and much of 
it tinged with amber coloring. 

This material is found at places northeast and southwest 
of Frye's, and at various places on Cripple Creek. 



BARYTES. 

Sulphate of baryta is found near Frye's marble quarry, 
not in very large quantities, but very pure. This is nearly 
in the true lead and zinc zone ; but on that side of Lick 
Mountain the series is barren of both lead and zinc. 

Barytes is found in very large masses on the north side of 
the great lead and zinc deposits. On a hill near Painter's 
Store, Brown Hill P. O., the quantity of this mineral is very 
great, extending along with the lead and zinc for miles. 
Other localities in the county require more development to 
be worthy of notice. 

KAOLm. 

In Lick Mountain, as well as with the coal measures of 
Wythe, there are large quantities of kaolin. That accom- 
panying the coal veins doesn't vitrify under great heat as 
does the Lick Mountain clay. 

The kaolin of Lick Mountain shows to best advantage 
toward the head of Stroup's Branch, about five miles south 
of "Wytheville. This deposit is in the Potsdam series, and is 
nearly 50 yards in thickness, showing a length of two miles. 



78 WYTHE CO. — AGRICULTURE. 

TIMBEE AND CHARCOAL. 

Very few of the great timber boundaries, once so plentiful 
on the south side of the county, still remain intact. The 
great demand for charcoal for furnace purposes has thinned 
out the timber on that side of the county very much ; but on 
the north side and in the middle section there are large 
boundaries of very good timber. The predominant kinds 
are white oak, chestnut oak, black oak, red oak, Spanish oak, 
hickory, poplar, walnut, sugar-maple, chestnut, white pine, 
yellow pine, butternut, and all other trees and shrubs native 
to the climate. The most numerous is the white oak ; white 
pine has been greatly decimated for shingling ; but there 
remains a great deal of chestnut oak, good for tanning pur- 
poses. 

AGRICULTURE. 

In Wythe County agriculture has been carried to its high- 
est perfection only in the department of grazing. The inex- 
haustible fertility of some of its soil, together with the care 
and economy habitual to many whose lands were not origin- 
ally so fertile, enables the county to make an exhibit alike 
flattering to the land-owners, and worthy of the widest pub- 
licity. 

It would be an invidious task to attempt to mention those 
whose labors have contributed most to place the county in 
the fine position it is esteemed to hold among the best graz- 
ing and farming counties in the State. The result of their 
efficient labors is shown in the fine herds of the best im- 
proved cattle and flocks of sheep, and the intelligent use by 
them of fertilizers in improving their wheat and corn lands 
is a compliment which is well earned. 

That the whole state of agriculture in the county is mak- 
ing fine progress under all the discouragements it has had 



WYTHE CO. — MANUFACTURES. 79 

to contend with, no impartial observer can doubt. It is 
plain that the great improvement in this direction, together 
with the rapid development of the different massive bands of 
ores, is fast raising the county to a position among the fore- 
most in point of wealth and importance. The cattle-men of 
the county have been all the time abreast with the leading 
men in like pursuits in others of the best grass countries in 
Southwestern Virginia. And this is saying a great deal, for 
the herds and herd books throughout the section named, 
when once inspected, will show an advanced interest and re- 
sults achieved, that would astonish both the English and those 
Americans of other sections, who arrogate to themselves the 
name of being first in such pursuits. It would be a pleasant 
task indeed to follow this subject through all its details, 
bringing in a description of the fine localities whose high 
state of improvement lends such interest to the beautiful 
landscapes, in which different parts of the county abound; 
but a regard for time and space compels the abandonment of 
a subject of the highest interest. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Beside the iron furnaces and forges and the lead works, the 
different manufacturing enterprises of the county are few in 
number, but seem to be directed by men who are determined 
to win success. 

At "Wytheville, and in that vicinity, the plow works, found- 
ries, machine shops, wagon and carriage-making establish- 
ments, and tanneries seem to be running to their utmost 
capacity, some of them even finding it necessary to increase 
their facilities for manufacturing. Thus, the best grades and 
most improved patterns of plows, saw-mills, cane-mills, cast- 
ings, wagons, buggies, carriages, leather, harness, and other 
articles are made there and distributed over a large extent 
of country. 



80 WYTHE CO. — SCENERY, ETC. 

At Kent's Mills the fine water-power of Keed Creek is 
utilized to run a good flouring-mill, besides a first-class 
woolen mill, which turns out cassiineres, linseys, jeans, blank- 
ets, etc. 

At Max Meadows is a tobacco factory, engaged principally 
in the manufacture of chewing tobacco. At Crockett's, be- 
side at Wytheville and other places in the county, plaster is 
ground for use as a fertilizer. Flouring-mills, saw-mills, and 
ordinary grist-mills abound throughout the county. Per- 
haps the greatest power in the State unused is that at Peirce's 
Falls, on New Eiver. 

SCENERY, ETC. 

The mountain ranges, divided by valleys, which are 
threaded by numerous streams of widely different volume, 
flowing awhile through beautiful green meadows, and then 
under lofty cliffs of massive limestone, render the scenery 
very attractive. 

There can be nothing more beautiful than that part of 
New River near the lead mines, or the fine stretch of river 
at Jackson's Ferry. At the latter, the southern bank rises 
abruptly into a cliff, which is crowned by an old tower 
covered with ivy ; while the northern bank slopes away 
gently for several hundred yards to an eminence, upon which 
is an elegant country residence, built in a style of architec- 
ture in perfect keeping with the noble scenery around it. 

At Wytheville, the north side of Lick Mountain, in summer 
afternoons, while the slanting rays of the sun bring out in 
fine relief the prominent ridges and deep hollows with their 
marvelous alternations of light and shade, presents a picture 
of incomparable beauty. 

At Max Meadows, the broad fields, whether decked in the 
fresh colors of leafy June, or crowned with the golden yellow 



WYTHE CO. — WYTHEVILLE. 81 

of the fall season, contribute many rare views, to which the 
streams and neighboring mour 
and animating in a high degree. 



streams and neighboring mountains lend a character vivid 



SCENERY, MINERAL SPRINGS, ETC. 

There are many such views, which the feeble power shown 
in this volume could but faintly portray. 

The Chimney Rocks, near Wytheville, have been for many 
years a resort of the young people in search of the command- 
ing views, cool shades, and the fine limpid spring near that 
elevated place. 

The great body of the valleys of the county being com- 
posed of heavy bands of limestone, their unequal solubility 
has caused many caves in the county, some of which, if thor- 
oughly explored, would rival the Luray Cave in extent and 
beauty of adornment. The section of the county known as 
The Cove, among many other localities in the county, seems 
to have some of great beauty, besides being of easy accessi- 
bility. 

The mineral springs of the county are confined principally 
to the line of the coal rocks and the adjacent strata, except 
the fine alum-chalybeate, which is now brought into Wythe- 
ville through pipes. The spring from which this water is 
derived, like several others near it, is in the black slates of 
Pine Eidge, whose position is near the St. Peter sandstones. 
There are few except alum-chalybeate springs in the county, 
of a strictly mineral character; and these, while of high 
medicinal virtue, are numerous. 

WYTHEVILLE. 

Wytheville, the county seat, which, by the last census, con- 
tains about 2,300 inhabitants, is situated near the center of 
6 



82 WYTHE CO. — WYTHEVrLLE. 

the county, on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Eailroad. 
The high improvement of its streets, the air of neatness and 
cleanliness, and its elevation of 2,300 feet above the sea, 
combine to render it a very attractive place in the summer 
season. 

It out-rivals a great many of the lesser watering-places in 
the number of visitors, in search of health, it entertains dur- 
ing the summer and fall. Beside several well-kept hotels 
and boarding-houses, usually dispensing well-cooked and 
wholesome fare, the fine alum and chalybeate water, now 
flowing from hydrants on the streets, adds an attractive and 
valuable feature. 

It is hardly necessary to say that all denominations of 
Christians, common to other parts of Virginia, have churches 
in the town or its vicinity. The schools, though unpreten- 
tious, are among the best in the State. Beside well-regu- 
lated public schools, there are private boarding-schools, of a 
select order, for young ladies. 

In addition to flourishing manufactories and machine shops, 
for the making of anything from an engine to a plow point, 
there are numerous stores which are supplied with a more 
than usually select list of goods. Thus, everything is found 
for sale in ordinary merchandise, millinery, fancy goods, no- 
tions, groceries, hardware, leather supplies, and tinware. 

Though sewing machines, reapers, and mowers, and the like 
are not made there, several companies are represented by 
handsome displays. The carriages, buggies, and wagons 
made at its factories, and proportioned, in strength of make, 
to the roads over which they are expected to run, out-rival 
any others for use in the adjacent country. 

The two newspapers, The Enterprise and Dispatch, pub- 
lished at the place, always occupying an advanced position 
in advocacy of progress and improvement, give full informa- 
tion of the proceedings of all the courts, including the Su- 



WYTHE CO. — LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 83 

premo Court of Appeals of the State, which sits there an- 
nually, beginning about the 10th of July. 

Wytheville is healthy, and the scenery around it is of a 
high order. 

Max Meadows, a name now commonly applied to the depot 
of that name on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Rail- 
road, was originally used to designate the wide-spreading 
meadows of great fertility in which the depot was built. The 
place has several excellent stores, and a tobacco factory. Max 
Meadows is one of the great shipping depots for pig iron, 
lead, and zinc. 

Rural Retreat, in the west of the county, besides being a 
depot on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, is a 
growing place, having an advanced school, good stores, shops, 
etc. 

Crockett's, is a depot on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio 
Railroad, seven miles west of Wytheville, and is now the 
shipping point for much of the pig metal made in that end 
of the county. It has a good steam mill for grinding plaster, 
besides other improvements, stores, etc. 

There are quite a number of other noted places in the 
county, but their description is now impracticable for want 
of space. 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, running 
through from Norfolk, west and southwest, to all points south 
and west, passes through the heart of the county. This 
great line is of ample carrying capacity, being of five-feet 
gauge, and, once out of its financial embarrassments, may do 
much more than formerly to develop the material resources 
of the section through which it runs. 

There are proposed lines of transportation, organized for 
the purpose of developing the great ore belts ; prominent 



84: WYTHE CO. QUOTATION FROM HOWARD SHRIVER, A.M. 

among which are tlie southern extension of the New River 
Railroad, the Virginia and Statesville Railroad, and the road 
of the Lobdell Car Wheel Company. 

FISH CULTURE. 

Since the adoption by the Fish Commissioner of a site near 
Wytheville for a hatchery, fish culture is assuming some im- 
portance. At a fine large spring, of proper temperature, near 
the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, three and a half 
miles west of "Wytheville, all the necessary buildings for this 
interesting business were completed in 1879, and the young 
fish of many improved varieties have been shipped to various 
streams in this and other parts of the State. The whole 
matter has been a success, under the intelligent management 
of Professor McDonald, and now that the hatchery is in suc- 
cessful operation, only a short time must elapse before all 
the streams of the county and the section will be stocked 
with varieties suitable to them. 

PRODUCTION OF CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, PIG METAL, LEAD, AND 

ZINC ORE. 

Fat cattle, annually shipped 1,800. 

Stock cattle " " 2,(100. 

Sheep, " " 5,000. 

Wheat, " " 180,000 bushels. 

Pig metal (chiefly for car-wheels) 8,000 tons of late, which will be increased hereafter. 

Lead from Wythe Lead and Zinc Mines. 1,000 tons annually. 

Zinc ore " " " " 50,000 tons have been mined up to date. 

Zinc ore from the Bertha Mine 2,100 tons to date. 

QUOTATION FROM HOWARD SHRIVER, A.M., OF WYTHEVILLE, ON THE 
FLORA AND CLIMATE OF WYTHE COUNTY. 

" Owing to the altitude of Southwest Virginia, averaging 
half a mile above sea level, the climate resembles that of the 
Middle States, many of our plants belonging to Pennsyl- 



WYTHE CO. — QUOTATION FKOM HOWARD SHRIVER, A.M. 85 

vania and New York. Whereas, in the same latitude, east of 
us, near the seashore, the fig ripens its two crops, and plants 
common to North Carolina are found. 

" Hence, it is less necessary to enumerate the prevailing 
plants, and we shall confine our list to a few that may be re- 
garded characteristic of the Flora. Among the first and 
most attractive, is the splendid Rhododendron Catawbi- 
ense, Michena, which abound on the hillsides and often ex- 
tend to their summits, being sometimes intermixed with R. 
maximum L. and Kalmia Latifolia — common farther north. 

" Along the streams are Clethra Acuminata and Alnifolia, 
Andromeda Floribunda Purch. and Magnolia Fraseri, Walt., 
Umbrella Lam. and Acuminata L. The mountain roads 
are lined in the early spring with the fragrant white flowers 
of Leucothse Recurra Buck. 

"Among a large number of Yaccinia are found Y. Ery- 
throcarpon Michx. and Macrocarpon. Of the Azaleas, there 
are A. arborescens, Purch., Yiscosa L., Nudiflora L., and the 
most splendid Calendarlacea, Michx. in every conceivable 
variety of coloring. Galax Aphyllea beautifies the woods in 
winter, with Chimaphila and several Pyrolas. In summer 
the Monotropa, and sweet-scented Schweinitzia Odorata, Ell. 
Ilea is well represented, including I. Monticola, Gray., Hale- 
sia Tetraptera is found in the water-courses. The Labiatse 
are well represented, including the somewhat rare Cedronella 
Cardata, Benth., Scutellaria Yersicolor, Pelosa, Servosa, etc. 
Stachys Cordata, Ridd. Ararum Canadense, L., Yirginicum 
L., and Arifolium Michx. are common with Aristolochia Sipho, 
L'Her. and Serpentana, L. Pyrularia Oleifera, Gray., Eu- 
phorbia of various species, including Commulata, Eng., Unu- 
laria Grandiflora, and Lessifolia, L. are common, as also 
Prosartes Lanuginosa, Don. and Clintoria Borealis, Raf., Um- 
bellata Torr., Convellata Majalis prevails on the mountains, 
even to their summits. Of the Carices, some twenty-five 



86 WYTHE CO. — QUOTATION FROM HOWARD SHRIVER, A.M. 

or thirty are common, while Carea Fraseriana, Linn's is 
rare. 

" The ferns are quite numerous, and, at times, grow in 
great luxuriance. The whole ground is often covered with a 
dense growth of Cystopteris Bulbifera, Bernh., the fronds 
from a foot to a foot and a half in height. In the same 
abundance are found Aspidium Goldianum, Hook, and Clin- 
tonianum ; while the open woods are carpeted with A. Peda- 
tum Phegopteris, and A. Marginale, Sw., and Acrostichoide, 
Sw., with occasionally Adiantum Capillus Veneris. The rock 
crevices exhibit Asplenium Montanum, "Willd., A. Euta Mura- 
ria L., Cheilanthes Vertita, Sw., Perlaca Atropurpurea, Link., 
and Polypodium Vulgaro and Incarium, Sw., A. Tricomanes 
L., Camptosorus Rhozophyllus, Link. In all some thirty 
species." 



WYTHE CO. — RAIN-FALL AND TEMPERATURE. 



87 



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WYTHE CO. — MAXIMA AND MINIMA OF THERMOMETER. 



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WYTHE CO. — FURNACES AND FORGES IN WYTHE CO. 



89 



RANGE OF BAROMETER. 

Keduced to 32° F. and corrected for Capillarity, Temperature, and Varia- 
tion in level of mercury in cistern. Instrument (No. 1560 by J. Green, N. Y. : 
except from Nov. 1, '65 to Apl. 1, '69; and Sept. 1, '69, to Sept. 1, '72, during 
which time an ordinary instrument was used). Observations previous to Nov. 
1, 1876, are reduced by the constant — .145 to correspond to current observations 
at present station. Add 27. to the thousandths in Table. 

BY HOWARD SHRIVER, A.M., WYTHEVILLE, WYTHE CO., VA. 





Jan. 


Feb. 


Mch. 


April 


May 


Juno 


July 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Avg. 


1865.. 






















569 


588 




1806.. 


....649 


649 


921 


579 


512 


597 


648 


















473 


52l) 


574 


571 


608 


659 


654 


697 


686 


635 


591 


608 


1872 . 


. . . .597 


518 


552 


641 


631 


639 


666 


669 


646 


624 


597 


632 


618 


1869.. 


. . . .537 


490 


567 


570 


470 


634 


647 


694 


749 


591 


582 


675 


600 


1870. . 


....631 


473 


520 


574 


571 


608 


659 


654 


697 


686 


635 


691 


617 


1871.. 


....711 


604 


580 


539 


604 


604 


638 


630 


717 


726 


596 


646 


633 


1873.. 


. . . .548 


504 


558 


478 


545 


619 


603 


666 


676 


628 


512 


671 


591 


1874. . 


664 


620 


568 


552 


573 


627 


665 


632 


678 


680 


692 


676 


635 


1875 


536 


568 
618 


553 
522 


514 
572 


569 
626 


645 
605 


645 

685 


615 
675 


652 
576 


602 
575 


590 
642 


526 
526 


584 


1876. . 


....687 


609 






610 


504 


495 


500 


610 


620 


600 


639 


624 


600 


688 


593 


1878. . 


....540 


459 


521 


403 


541 


568 


627 


570 


700 


633 


546 


518 


552 


1879.. 


579 


547 


600 


502 


624 


616 


622 


598 


697 


742 


678 


635 


69,0 







MONTHLY AVERAGES. 
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Avg. 
612 549 548 541 559 614 654 642 675 641 600 619 604 



FURNACES AND FORGES IN WYTHE COUNTY, VIRGINIA — ALL COLD- 
BLAST CHARCOAL. 

Cedar Bun Furnace, Graham & Robinson, near Graham's 
Forge (Graham's old furnace), built by David Graham. 
One stack 32x9. 1832. Water power. Capacity 6 tons. 

Barren Springs Furnace, J. Williamson M'Gavock, near Car- 
ter's Ferry, New River (Graham's new furnace), built 
by David Graham in 1853 and rebuilt by Graham & 
Eobinson, 1873. One stack 35x8, cold blast. Capacity 
5 tons. 

Eagle Furnace, or Gray Eagle Furnace, built in 1863 by 
Buford, Stuart & Co., now owned by Graham & Robin- 



90 WYTHE CO. — FURNACES AND EORGES IN WYTHE CO. 

son. One stack 33x9. Cold blast, water power. Capac- 
ity 5 tons. 

Brown Hill Furnace, built by Abraham Painter & Sons, 1870, 
now owned by the Lobdell Car Wheel Company, Wil- 
mington, Delaware. One stack 32x9. Cold blast, steam 
power. Capacity 8 tons. 

Walton Furnace, built by Howard & Saunders, 1872, now 
owned by Lobdell Car Wheel Company, Wilmington, 
Delaware. One stack 33x9. Capacity 8 tons. 

Ravenscliffe Furnace, Crockett & Co., one old stack 29x9, 
built in 1810, rebuilt 1876, and a new stack 33x9. Water 
power. Capacity 14 tons. 

Speedwell Furnace, D. E. James & Son, built 1873. One 
stack 32x9. Water power. Capacity 6 tons. 

Wythe Furnace, Sayers, Oglesby & Co., built in 1873. One 
stack 33x9. Steam power. Capacity 5 tons. 

Irondale Furnace, Noble, Allen & Co., built 1880-81. P. O., 
Crockett's Depot. Capacity 10 tons. 

Beverly Furnace, Crockett & Co., built in 1880. Water 
power. P. O., Crockett's Depot, 36x10. Capacity 12 tons. 

Furnace of the New River Iron Co., at Pierce's Falls, New 
River, built in 1881. P. O., Jackson's Ferry, 34x10. 
Capacity 12 tons. 

Furnace of the Hendricks' Bros., of New York, 1881. New 

River Mineral Co., now building at mouth of Painters' 

Branch, New River, two miles above Wythe Lead Mines. 

One stack 10ix40. Capacity 20 tons. P. O., Brown Hill. 

Forges. — Of the numerous forges once existing only one 

remains, Graham's Forge Rolling Mills and Nail Works, built 

by David Graham, on Reed Creek, 1828. Three heating fur- 
naces, four trains of rolls, five nail machines, and one 

hammer. 



SMYTH COUNTY. 91 



SMYTH COUNTY. 

Smyth County, for the princely resources it contains, lias 
been more neglected comparatively, hitherto, in all reports 
having the sanction of authority, than any other county in 
the State. The great Valley of Virginia, as widely renowned 
as it is for the beauty and fertility of its soil, and its match- 
less wealth in ores, would be incomplete indeed without the 
county of Smyth. The citizens of the southwestern end of 
the valley, being very generally acquainted with the charac- 
ter of what may strictly be termed the Shenandoah end of 
the valley, live also in the knowledge of the extraordinary 
resources in Salt and Plaster, Lead and Zinc, and great masses 
of Magnetic and Brown Iron Ores, which add such an addi- 
tional interest to their own end. Could there be that capable 
and trustworthy management of public property that there is 
ordinarily of property in private hands, what a source of 
revenue would there be to the county, as an owner, or the 
State, of the vast salt interests at Saltville, and the great 
plaster beds there and above, on the Holston River and tribu- 
taries. How many of the burdens would be thus removed 
from the people of a county, with a revenue coming into its 
treasury, annually, equal to its receipts from taxation. Such 
a revenue would not only do away with the taxation, but a 
great part of it would be spent among the people for the build- 
ing of many needed improvements. Though it is now too late 
to think of such a possibility for the salt works, could the 
great plaster beds even, on Cove Creek, become the property 
of the county, and be leased out to competent and honest men 
to be mined for its benefit, cheap railway transportation be- 
ing understood, what a source of revenue would thus be 
opened. 

If this railway transportation would open up Kentucky and 



92 SMYTH COUNTY. 

its connecting lines of railway, it would be difficult to esti- 
mate the vast quantity of this cheap and abundant fertilizer 
which would be annually consumed. But, pleasant as it 
might be for the county to have an independent source of 
revenue that would free it from the necessity of taxing its 
people, would it not be an impracticable thing, because of 
the impossibility of employing agents to handle the property 
who would, with single-hearted fidelity, conduct the manage- 
ment as judiciously as they would in the position of private 
owners? Could the county, under the law, become an owner, 
the results of the venture might be anticipated as of rather 
doubtful success, unless the properties could be handled with 
address and fidelity. 

However this may be, Smyth County, not merely because 
of the existence of these remarkable deposits of plaster and 
salt, is great. There are vast deposits of iron and manganese 
of superior character ; and these magnificent veins and de- 
posits lie sometimes within, and generally but a mile or so 
from grass and grain lands unsurpassed in fertility. 

Could the resources of Smyth County be utilized, so really 
abundant are they that it is not too much to say the finances 
of the State itself would feel the beneficial effects of such 
development in a marked degree. 

This is another one of those counties to which it will be 
impossible to do justice in anything short of a volume. A 
full description of the Plaster and Salt deposits alone would 
require much space ; but in the section allotted to the 
county, enough, it is hoped, may be said to draw attention to 
its highly valuable resources ; and that, too, if the design 
should be successful, in a manner which will show their 
bearing upon the general prosperity of the country. 



SMYTH CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 93 



HOW BOUNDED. 



Smyth is separated from Tazewell, on the north, by the 
Clinch range of mountains ; on the south, from Grayson, 
by the Iron Mountain, the southwest corner being on the 
great "White Top ; on the east side it is bounded by Wythe, 
and west by Washington. 

HOW WATERED. 

The county is watered almost wholly by the different 
branches of Holston River, two of which — the Middle and 
South Forks — take their source in the county; but in the 
head of Eye Valley are some of the head-waters of Cripple 
Creek, which creek flows eastwardly to New River, while the 
Holston waters flow south we stwardly toward Tennessee. 

GEOLOGICAL. 

The geology of Smyth is comprised between the Upper 
Huronian Rocks, showing in White Top Mountain, and the 
Proto-Carboniferous, showing in Brushy Mountain ; in one 
place there being an exception — at Saltville, where there are 
evidences of the Cenozoic, or Mammalian Age. 

With the exception of the Salt and Plaster, there is no 
marked difference between this county and other counties 
of the Great Valley, either in its geology or mineralogy. The 
cross section, here given, will show the geology of the Valley 
of Virginia somewhat differently disposed from what it is at 
other points east, but not essentially different in character. 
A description of the geological section here given is scarcely 
necessary, as it explains itself with sufficient clearness for 
general purposes. The county, really, would require a num- 
ber of cross-sections to show the dip of the rocks in each 
district ; but the section given will show the general order 



94 SMYTH CO. — IRON ORES. 

and position of the various strata, faults, etc. It may be 
proper, however, to call attention to the series of mountains 
near the middle and in the eastern part of the county : three 
high ridges, running side by side, a course north 70° east, 
dying down near Marion, at the west end, and breaking off at 
the eastern end near the county line, forming a great island 
of Potsdam sandstone, iron ore, and red shale, surrounded 
by the valley limestones. Likewise Big Walker's Mountain, 
which is such a vast barrier in the eastern end of the county, 
as it approaches Saltville becomes a mere hill, and after that, 
going southwest, has no longer the same character. The 
other mountain ranges are continuous, except White Top, 
which is a massive and towering outburst of granite rock 
material, standing almost isolated. 

IRON ORES. 

It would seem as though we were to have a redundancy of 
the subject of iron ores in this work. In each county it has 
been a prominent feature ! In Smyth the measure will be 
found full and running over, and the only regret will be that 
of the writer at his inability to present the subject as it de- 
serves. 

Beginning on the south boundary of the county and going 
northwardly, the first great extensive line of iron ore deposits 
are the brown ores at the base of the Calciferous and the up- 
per part of the Potsdam sub-epochs in the spurs and parallel 
ridges of the north side of Iron Mountain. These ores com- 
bined with manganese ores form heavy beds and deposits in 
this range, apparently more profuse as to surface indications 
toward the eastern than the western end. That the mas- 
sive parent veins from which these decomposed ores are de- 
rived are some of them over 50 feet thick, I have no doubt. 
Pearce's Forge, near by, on the South Fork of Holston Eiver, 



SMYTH CO. — IEON OEES. 



95 




Rich Mtn. 



Clinch Mtn. 




/ 4v\ 

/ SJF/ ) Brushy Mtn. 

/££ A 



Fault 

Carboniferous 



-, "Siilt/SrSaHitftfe 
/Plaster >Marble 

^4( F&ters Jlfln. 



Sy/yf'Holston E. 


//*' / /\. 


/^'//K rc 




in/w/J a 










///ill- o 


1 1 / 1 ~\ c 


1 1 ^j \ i\ g. 




V\ v^/v^v-^ g 




^\|@^J**°i 1 


^cQ>%j>>-^ S 1 




£, ^\S^ 


Plaster 










s. \3T < * 


Sallville 


^ —* 




9 ^\ 


fc \v 


.1 X 



~ 5 ^\«3-^ l *i i !f ter ivortA Fori- o/ 



ifo/ston i2. 



ss^^^N^^O" Plaster & Salt 



i-* 9 




T - liey&a is. ft/ _abg ve Tide ^Vater 



Mountain 



96 SMYTH CO. — IKON ORES. 

derives some of its ores from either the parent or deriva- 
tive beds of this line of ores. Much of this ore is no doubt 
the result of the decomposition of the heavy measures of sul- 
phides of iron, lead and zinc, which once extended in masses 
up and down this valley, in a prolongation southwest of simi- 
lar great deposits in Wythe ; and although developments there 
are still in the very earliest stages of the initiative, enough may 
be seen, by a careful search, to prove that there must still re- 
main somewhat of this same formation, here and there, suf- 
ficient to warrant the belief of paying quantities of zinc still 
remaining, particularly toward the middle and east end of 
Eye Valley. 

Then, crossing over to the north side of the South Fork of 
Holston, along the strike of the northern out-crop of the great 
synclinal — of which the river and Rye Valley are the marks of 
the greater depression — we see another long line of beds of 
brown iron ore, parallel generally with the course of the river 
and valley, and showing in many places profusely from the 
Smyth-Wythe line to Thomas's on the Marion-Grayson turn- 
pike. These ores are likewise here and there mixed with 
manganese, but often a pure brown hematite, so-called, of a 
high degree of purity and excellence, and in quantities cor- 
responding to the vast parent veins from which the ore was 
derived. These ores are frequently pocketed in the lime- 
stone, and when so found are regarded as the purer ores. 

Next of importance are the almost inconceivably vast beds 
and deposits in the series of mountains running from the 
immediate neighborhood of Marion, eastwardly, to the Smyth- 
Wythe line, in which the Glade Mountain, with its extensive 
veins, bears so important a part. Up Staley's Mill Creek, 
Nick's Creek, heads of Aker's Creek, Pliillii^pi's and Steffee's 
branches, in Glade Mountain ; in the White Eock Mountain 
and the space between it and the flanking ridge on the south, 
and in that district, where these mountains die down under 



SMYTH CO. — IKON OEES. 97 

the limestones just south of Marion, the deposits and veins 
of iron ore, from very careful and repeated observations, are 
judged to be among the first in the world in size, in facility 
of mining, and easy accessibility. This is saying no more 
than the facts warrant ; and although it will be impossible to 
give, in this space, the exact measures of all the beds — those 
fine ones nearer Marion, and those nearer the White Rock 
Furnace (formerly the Panic Furnace) the measures of just 
a moiety it is hoped will be convincing. Taking from the 
field notes we have : " Head of Steffee's Branch," a heavy body 
of iron ore following the strike of the rocks a great distance, 
130 feet across the vein which runs north 75° east about, on 
the same lead which gives the fine specular ore, chalcedony, 
etc. ; barometer 3,200 above sea level ; dip of rocks south 15° 
east ; stratification as follows : Beginning south a heavy band 
of sandstone, then specular ore eight inches, then thin bed 
of sand-rock, then (manganiferous iron ore perhaps a third 
of the vein, followed by pure brown iron ore) the 130 feet of 
ore. Then at about 700 yards north, down the mountain 
(north 15° west) passed another iron ore lead (parallel to the 
first) 24: feet thick at the division between the Scolithus- 
marked sandstone and the red shales, etc., of the Lower Cal- 
ciferous ; then at 5C0 yards more on the cross section (course 
north 15° west), struck 10 feet of kidney ore overlying a heavy 
ledge of sandstone, dip 20°, south 15° east, barometer 2,760 
above sea level, which point was 250 feet above the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, two miles farther north. 

Then, again, in the examination up Nick's Creek, the largest 
bed of good ore, situated at the western end of White Rock 
Mountain, where Nick's Creek cuts the mountain off, from the 
surface indications, is judged to be 300 feet thick, dipping 
southwardly. This vein or deposit, like the others just men- 
tioned, is continuous for miles through the country — for ten 
miles, if not more — in easily accessible ground. Of good ore 
7 



98 SMYTH CO. — IKON ORES. 

in these veins, which might be mined or stripped above or- 
dinary water level in the creeks, there are not less than 
25,000,000 tons. Some experts, accustomed to the examina- 
tion of ore deposits, give the beds nearer Marion alone credit 
for more than that amount. The curious and critical may 
take the elevations as given by the barometer above, and 
only one half the recorded thicknesses of deposits by a length 
of ten miles, and readily see whether the quantity is an exag- 
geration or not. 

Again, as you approach the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio 
Railroad in the middle of the county, on either side of the 
valley of the Middle Fork of Holston River, there are de- 
posits of brown ores which have evidently resulted from the 
decomposition of the ore beds at higher levels, and subse- 
quent precipitation in the cavities of the limestones below. 

Then going northwardly over some lines of lesser veins in 
the flanks of Little Walker's Mountain, the next notable de- 
posits of brown iron ores are along the outcroppings of the 
Oriskany measures in the south flank of Big Walker's Moun- 
tain. This line of ores, showing generally not far above the 
base of the mountain on the southern side, lies in a line fully 
twenty miles long, coursing north 60° or 70° east. These 
deposits are similar to other Oriskany deposits described in 
different parts of this book. Now and then the lead shows 
but little ore, and again the surface is covered with an excel- 
lent brown ore which has not yet been found to yield on 
analysis over three tenths of one per cent, of phosphorus. 

Then, again, at Ward's, near Chatham Hill, are brown ores 
formed from decomposed pyrites in respectable masses, but 
no doubt belonging to the division between the Black River 
and Trenton series. 

These same conditions, as to Oriskany ores, are repeated 
again in Smyth County, in the south flank of Clinch Moun- 
tain, and in Poor Valley Ridge. 



SMYTH CO. — RED IRON ORES. 99 

In truth, the brown iron ores of Smyth, above water level, 
are not far from 100,000,000 of tons. 



Red Iron Ore. 

Beginning at the southern boundary line, and going from 
south to north over the various strata, not much pure red 
iron ore is met with, until you reach the extraordinary vein 
in Glade Mountain, mentioned above. This ore — a pure 
specular, crystalline in structure, very dense and free from 
impurities — is only, so far as developed, about eight inches 
thick, with an evident tendency to thicken eastwardly and to 
thin out in the opposite direction. It is singular that, at the 
head of Steffee's Branch, a vein of this nature should occur 
in a regular and well-defined system of rocks, and be confined 
to only a few hundred feet either way. 

The next notable line of red ores met with, going north- 
wardly, are those occupying the line of felspars at the junc- 
tion of the Black Kiver and Trenton limestones. This remark- 
able band of ore, which has such a large development in 
Giles County, about Chapman's, shows best in Smyth at Til- 
son's, east end of the county, in Kicli Valley. The ore is of 
the finest quality, and is apparently not less than six feet thick 
with the rocks dipping southwardly. In nearly every hill, as 
you go down the valley, this remarkable ore shows itself 
with the felspar overlying it. It will prove of very great im- 
portance to the iron interests of that section, as it is not only 
a remarkably pure ore, but in great quantity in the aggre- 
gate. 

After this no very considerable masses of red ores are 
again met with until you reach Big Walker's Mountain, 
where the fossil red ores show, some distance below the 
crest of the mountain, on the south side. In addition to the 
strictly fossil ore there is a red hematite in the same series 



100 SMYTH CO. — COPPEE. 

of rocks, slaty in structure, and apparently a valuable ore, 
being in quantity now and then. The fossil ore, which dips 
southwardly between ledges of red sandstone, rarely ever ex- 
ceeds eighteen inches in thickness. There is also a short 
line of these ores in the south face of Clinch Mountain, and 
again in Poor Valley Ridge. 

Magnetic Iron Ore. 

There is a line of magnetic ores leading from near Marion 
southwestwardly toward the Smyth-Washington line near a 
point where the South Fork of Holston River leaves the 
county. These ores show in fragments on the surface, but 
sufficient developments have not yet been made to prove 
quantities. The measures seem to be confined to the Lower 
Silurian limestones. 

Iron Pyrites. 

Iron pyrites is, perhaps, the original material of all the 
iron ore deposits of the county except the specular and fossil 
ores. On the South Fork of Holston Eiver, in Rye Valley, 
Glade Mountain, etc., and in Rich Valley, iron pyrites must 
be abundant below water level. Cubical pyrites are largely 
disseminated in the slates, etc., of the Proto-Carboniferous 
series, just north of the fault in which the plaster and salt are 
found, as well as in larger masses in the lower limestones 
south of the same fault. 

COPPER. 

Carbonate of copper is distinguishable in the line of rocks 
in which the barytes occur, just south of the Atlantic, Mis- 
sissippi and Ohio Railroad, four miles east of Marion. Cop- 
per pyrites are, no doubt, in the same series. In fact, fol- 
lowing the same series eastwardly nearly to the Smyth- 



SMYTH CO. — SALT AND GYPSUM, OB PLASTER. 101 

"Wythe Hue, copper carbonate and sulphide are so abundant 
as to create the impression of large quantities below the sur- 
face. Copper pyrites ought also to be found in the line of 
rocks in Rye Valley and south fork of Holston River, which 
represent the lead and zinc-bearing formation. 

Again, in the Hamilton slates, in Lick Creek Gap, in the 
northern portion of the county, and at points in the same 
strata in Poor Valley, indications have, now and then, been 
found to lead to the belief that sufficient quantities existed 
to pay for mining, but this is doubtful. 

LEAD AND ZINC. 

It is unfortunate that the Lead and Zinc indications show- 
ing at some points near Sugar Grove, in the South Fork Val- 
ley, should not have been prospected to such an extent as to 
permit measures to be taken. Without more evidence, the 
presumption is that there is here a continuation southwest- 
wardly of the heavy lead and zinc-bearing strata showing so 
conspicuously in Wythe County, the general geological for- 
mation being identical. Lead has been occasionally found 
in Rich Valley, near the line of the division between the Cal- 
ciferous and Trenton rocks. Again in the south of Big 
Walker's Mountain, in the Corniferous flint on Bear Creek, 
and in the LoAver Helderberg group. The same may be said 
of the like formations in the south flank of Clinch Moun- 
tain. These latter ores have often been claimed to be silver- 
bearing galenites, but Dr. Genth's analysis failed to find the 
silver. 

SALT AND GYPSUM, OR PLASTER. 

In treating this highly valuable and important subject, it 
will not be inferred that the author regards his statements 
concerning either the geology or other important features 



102 SMYTH CO. — SALT AND GYPSUM, OK PLASTEE. 

of tlie formation infallible ; but believes, from the fact that 
his examinations have continued over a longer period than 
most others have been able to devote to it, that his conclu- 
sions are safe. 

Saltville, the place where salt has been manufactured, 
without intermission of any duration, for a great many years, 
including the ground occupied by the Buena Vista Plaster 
Mills, is the southwestern limit of the extraordinary deposits 
of salt and plaster which mark the line of a great fissure in 
the crust of the earth, along the course of the North Fork of 
Holston River — mainly in Smyth County — about seventeen 
miles of which show Salt and Plaster ; but only that sin- 
gularly beautiful basin surrounding Saltville is positively 
known to yield much salt. 

This great fissure, it may be as well to say, brings up the 
limestones of the Lower Silurian division, charged with sul- 
phide of iron, against a downthrow of Proto-Carboniferous 
rocks, charged also more or less with sulphide of iron. It is 
possible that after the great pressure (from southeast to 
northwest) upon the arched crust of the earth had resulted 
in the above action, a compensating pressure was then ex- 
erted at right angles to the first, causing in many places 
great fragments of the crust to slide between each other ; in 
other places (as the one now treated) causing the great fis- 
sures between great fragments to yawn (at the same time the 
whole being raised) and remain open, probably because great 
pieces were precipitated into the chasm, preventing the sides 
from settling back into close contact with each other. Into 
such a great yawning series of chasms, on the line above 
mentioned, since the close of the Carboniferous age (when 
the fracture is supposed to have occurred) have the waters 
coming from the surrounding strata, charged with brine from 
the salt series of the coal rocks, and with sulphuric acid and 
lime from the decomposing iron sulphides and limestones, 



SMYTH CO. — SALT AND GYPSUM, OR PLASTER. 103 

been pouring thousands upon thousands of tons of both salt 
and sulphuric acid and lime, now combined into sulphate of 
lime, or gypsum. These solutions finally deposited the rock 
salt and plaster; the salt seeming to have been deposited 
first, as at Saltville, over 175 feet thick, its top being at a 
depth of 200 feet from the surface. Then above this comes 
about 100 feet of bluish slate, overlaid with gypseous clays of 
variable thickness. These measures are only local to Salt- 
ville. At the Buena Vista plaster beds, a mile or more south- 
west of the Saltville beds, the plaster is a fine compact body 
of great but scarcely known thickness, though it is some- 
times asserted that its depth is determined. Northeast- 
wardly from Saltville six miles, immediately on the river, the 
Pearson plaster beds have been explored to a depth of about 
180 feet ; and they indicate not only continuity, but great 
solidity. At Buchanan's Plaster Cove, sixteen miles north- 
eastwardly from Saltville, on the north side of Holston Kiver, 
the great chasm must have been very wide and deep. . Here, 
an 8 by 10 shaft, which was sunk 592 feet in search of salt, 
was in fine plaster all the way down, showing saline satura- 
tion to some extent near the bottom. 

While it is not unreasonable to suppose that at Saltville 
and the immediate vicinity there are 500 acres of land under- 
laid with rock salt, there can be no impropriety in giving the 
quantity of it underlying 100 acres. Such a calculation will 
serve to show why these deposits have been drawn upon so 
long without apparently losing anything of their original 
strength and quantity. 

The most reliable data give the thickness of the rock- 
salt at 175 feet, with the certainty of much of the overlying 
and underlying material so heavily saturated with brine as 
to almost, if not quite, form a source of supply equal to one 
half the volume of the rock salt ; but, discarding this view of 
the case as not fully proven, the calculation upon the basis 



104 SMYTH CO. — GYPSUM. 

of 175 feet thickness will make manifest the inexhaustible 
source from which the Holston Salt and Plaster Company- 
are deriving their salt. For 100 acres the result is about 
2,100,000 tons of rock salt. It is true, that in the 175 feet 
there will be a considerable quantity of earthy as well as 
rock material ; not only is this saturated with brine, but 
enough of the surrounding material to justify the calculation 
being made upon the basis of 175 feet thickness, solid. Now 
it may be assumed, without reasonable doubt, that there is 
at least five times that quantity, with the very high proba- 
bility that the rocks of Nos. X. and XII., the original source 
of supply, are still by drainage annually adding fresh sup- 
plies. 

It may be submitted, then, that an annual consumption of 
23,000 tons of salt, as is the present yield, will not exhaust 
the supply under 100 acres of land for seventy years to 
come, assuming that in the past the quantity consumed is 
about equal to 500,000 bushels annually for thirty years ; and 
if the rocks of X. and XII. are still giving up salt, it is truly 
inexhaustible. It has never been necessary to pump in fresh 
water, as sometimes asserted, in order to keep up a regular 
flow through the pumps. The water, finding its way to the 
salt alone as fast as needed, soon takes up the necessary 
quantity, and comes out saturated to the usual density, 
which is now given at 98 per cent. 

GYPSUM. 

As to the quantity of the gypsum, if it were solid, 80 feet 
thick, it would yield about 90,000 tons to the acre. But there 
is really no telling how much ground about Saltville is under- 
laid with plaster. It may be confined to the edges of this 
basin, or, if deposited from a solution, as is strongly sus- 
pected, it is likely to underlie the whole acreage of the Salt- 



SMYTH CO. — GYPSUM. 105 

ville basin. In this case the quantity is far beyond any de- 
mand which is ever possible to be made npon it. At the 
Pearson plaster beds these conditions are likely to prove the 
same. At Buchanan's Plaster Cove, sixteen miles east of Salt- 
ville, the plaster is known to be 592 feet thick at one point ; and, 
in all probability, underlies an acreage fully as large, if not 
larger, than that at Saltville. One acre of it, to the depth 
above given, from actual measurement, holds over 666,000 
tons. One hundred acres will yield 66,600,000 tons, if the 
data derived from close investigation be admissible. 

The acreage under which this extensive gypsum deposit 
has been positively ascertained — in the Saltville Basin, 
about Pearson's, Taylor's, and the Buchanan Plaster Cove 
— may almost be estimated by the square mile rather than 
by the acre. To give the acreage would therefore be super- 
fluous. 

The present annual consumption of plaster, from all these 
deposits, is about as follows : 

Holston Salt and Plaster Co 3,000 tons. 

Buena Vista Plaster Co 2,000 " 

Pearson Plaster Banks 800 " 

Buchanan or Cove Plaster Banks 500 " 

Total 6,300 tons. 

The first two plaster companies enjoy railroad facilities, 
supplied by the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad Com- 
pany ; the latter two hope that within a year or two, either 
the Richmond and Southwestern Radlroad, or the Virginia, 
Kentucey and Ohio Railroad will be built through both their 
properties. It may not be inappropriate to say, before dis- 



106 SMYTH CO. — GYPSUM. 

missing tlie subject of plaster, that its use as a fertilizer, in 
Virginia alone, should be much greater than it is ; not only 
because its consumption would save annually to Virginia a 
very large sum, which is now being sent out of the State for 
other fertilizers not as good ; but for the reason that, the 
State finances being low, so fine a» basis upon which to create 
much more extensive operations, and much more the ability 
to pay taxes than now exist, should not be neglected. 

Now, it is plain that, without other lines of transportation 
even than those at present in use, this desirable object can 
be to some extent accomplished, and that will be by causing 
the plaster to be used as a permanent fertilizer, instead of a 
mere stimulant for growing crops, as is now generally the 
case. The following being the reasons for the assumption 
held forth above : 

Plaster, or the ordinary gypsum, contains about forty-five 
per cent, of sulphuric acid. When finely pulverized and inti- 
mately mixed with any soil it is clear that this acid must be 
a solvent for many of its constituents, all, in fact, upon which 
it will act anywhere. Now the soils of this country contain a 
good deal of silica combined with potash and soda, as well as 
iron ores in greater or less quantity, more or less charged 
with phosphorus. It is plain then that if a cheajD reagent 
can be had which will dissolve these substances, and cause 
them to yield the potash, soda, phosphorus, etc., we have all 
the requisites. It is here submitted that gypsum will do 
this, if it is a good soluble article. The reactions are likely 
to be something like the following : The gypsum thrown into 
the soil in a pulverized condition, and coming into contact 
with moist substances, for which its constituents have a high 
affinity, it begins to break up or dissolve, the sulphuric acid 
attacking mineral and organic matter alike, together with the 
downfall of ammonia in rains and snows, causing it to take 
forms highly useful to plant life, which the plant couldn't utilize 



SMYTH CO. — GYPSUM. 107 

before. Thus the flint gives way and yields potash, soda, and 
silica ; clays are dissolved to some extent and form new com- 
binations ; the iron ores give up their phosphates, as well as 
the minute fragments of apatite ; and the lime, left to itself as 
pure calcium, forms other reagents, prominent among which is 
calcium hydrate or caustic lime, which is itself one of the 
most powerful reagents known. 

All of these acting together do all the work nearly, in the 
soils of Southwestern Virginia and the neighboring States, 
which any fertilizer can accomplish. Let us see then if there 
is any prominent practical illustration of the theory. 

Mr. Legrand Sexton, of Chatham Hill, in Smyth County, 
having bought two old worn-out farms near the Cove Plaster 
Banks, determined to try the efficacy of plaster as a perma- 
nent fertilizer, since he was so close to the deposits as to 
bring the question of cost to a nominal figure. Upon these 
two places the soil had been reduced so by constant cropping 
that they would scarcely produce nine bushels of corn to the 
acre ; the soil being in the limestone belt, and covered more 
or less with flint containing potash and soda and doubtless 
much comminuted iron ore. 

At first he plowed four inches deep, sowing about one 
bushel of plaster to the acre ; the next year he gauged his 
plows two inches deeper, sowing an increased quantity of 
plaster, the yield of corn — the crop he used — greatly augment- 
ing ; the third year he plowed two inches deeper, about eight 
inches altogether, using something less than two bushels of 
plaster to the acre, his crop of corn at the end of the season 
being so great as to astonish him. The fourth year he plowed 
still deeper, bringing up the clay subsoil into contact with an 
increased quantity per acre of plaster, making a yield, at the 
end of the fourth season, of one hundred and twenty-five 
bushels of corn per acre, on ground that had been really 
abandoned by the unenterprising people who had previously 



108 SMYTH CO. — BAEYTES. 

held it. This land when last seen seemed to be in a state of 
permanent fertility, for the corn on it in 1878 looked to the 
writer as though it would yield over one hundred bushels to 
the acre. 

It may be inferred from these facts that, should the owners of 
plaster deposits who can afford it send out competent agents 
to all points accessible by rail, and there lecture upon the true 
character and capacities of plaster, demonstrated both by 
chemistry and practice, they would thereby so greatly in- 
crease the demand for a good article as to make it difficult to 
supply it. As long, however, as the active canvassers of fer- 
tilizers from enterprising Eastern firms go through the country, 
making statements sometimes prejudicial to the use of plaster, 
and altogether in praise of their own wares, without meeting 
men of like activity and enterprise working for the plaster 
interest, we may conclude that just so long will the important 
industry of plaster development remain at a standstill, if it 
does not recede. 

BAEYTES. 

This has been another source of revenue to the county of 
Smyth. An enterprising gentleman from New York State, 
some years since, finding barytes in large quantities near 
Marion, began its mining and shipment. From this business 
he has made large profits ; and, by his work, has demon- 
strated that the county, particularly in the localities just east 
and west of Marion, is capable of yielding a very large tonnage 
of this material. It seems to be pocketed in Lower Silurian 
limestones, in a series parallel with and just south of the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. It is sometimes 
picked up in other sections of the county, but, as yet, not 
in sufficient masses to justify the expectation of large quan- 
tities. 



SMYTH CO. — TIMBER. 109 



MARBLE. 



Smyth holds two lines of rock yielding handsome speci- 
mens of variegated marble. One is a gray variety, closely 
resembling that from Tennessee, found in a railroad cut one 
mile east of Marion ; the other belongs to the series of rocks 
near to and just south of Saltville, and all the way up Rich 
Valley, which lie about the junction of the Trenton and 
Hudson sub-epochs. In these ledges may be discovered 
marble of purple and brown variegation, and a gray variety 
also. Both of these would polish well, apparently, and yield 
a handsome ornamental stone. Should they prove sufficiently 
firm in large blocks, there is scarcely any limit to the 
quantity. 

KAOLIN. 

The mountainous region between the Atlantic, Mississippi 
and Ohio Railroad and Rye Valley shows beds of kaolin of 
unknown extent. The quality, also, has not yet been tested. 
It is supposed to result from the decomposition of strata 
largely composed of felspar in the Potsdam rocks. 

TIMBER. 

This county can enumerate all the valuable kinds of timber 
known to the latitude, including two or more varieties of the 
fir tree. White Top Mountain has a large body of balsam 
fir ; with this may be placed the lashhorn, a kind of fir with 
a differently shaped leaf from the ordinary balsam fir, and 
having its limbs to grow out from the body of the tree in 
such a manner as to form a lace work, apparently lashed 
together so thickly as to permit a number of persons to 
occupy the flattened top without danger of breaking through. 

All over the sides of White Top Mountain are vast forests 
of a superior growth, including much wild cherry, poplar, 



110 SMYTH CO. — AGRICULTURE. 

etc. In the Iron Mountain there are fine bodies of white 
pine, and all through the county, except right on the line of 
the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Eailroad, and the vicinity 
of Saltville, there are immense primitive forests miles in 
extent. Such is the case in the north spurs of Iron Moun- 
tain, Glade and White Rock Mountains, Little Walker's, Big 
Walker's, Brushy, Clinch, and Poor Valley Mountain, and 
adjacent valleys. So that the iron master need not fear the 
early disappearance of an abundance of charcoal. In many 
of the limestone districts there are still remaining very large 
quantities of walnut, sugar tree, and other fine woods. 

WATER POWER. 

The three forks of Holston River, each discharging about 
150 cubic feet of water before leaving the county, afford suf- 
ficient water power with their tributaries to supply all the de- 
mand which may ever be made upon them. 

These streams are constant. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The most profitable branch of agriculture is grazing. 
There are but few large farms employed in raising grain 
alone. The lands are generally well adapted to grass, bring- 
ing blue grass naturally. A very large area of the county is 
taken up by high mountains ; but the area of limestone, or 
strictly grass lands, is more than half the county. The val- 
leys of the North, Middle, and South Forks of Holston River, 
including Rich Valley on the north side of Walker's Mountain 
and Rye Valley on the south side of the county, show all the 
fine features characteristic of the best lands of the Valley of 
Virginia. Sinclair's Bottom, on the South Fork, near the 
Smyth-Washington line, is often quoted as one of the best 
bodies of land in the State. Every one who has seen the 










Francis Palmer. At 2 Years. 







:' C ''\^ 




***» 4 



A 



lSSS?1SS-' ^ ^ 



11278. Albert Edward. At 5 Tears. 

TWO OF THE FINE HERD AT SALTYILLE, VA. 
(P. Ill ) 



SMYTH CO. — SCENERY. Ill 

Saltville basin can only speak in terms of praise of the great 
fertility of its loamy soil, and thus could many places noted 
for the excellence of the soil be called over in the county. 
Poor Valley makes no pretensions to richness of soil, but 
many farms are situated in it notwithstanding, the people 
living well. It is superfluous to name the different farm prod- 
ucts of the county : wheat, corn, oats, hay, rye, and buck- 
wheat are the ordinary crops throughout, and no season is 
remembered when there was a complete failure in any crop. 
Cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs do well, some of the finest 
herds of cattle in the country being now raised. 

SCENERY. 

Smyth, "Washington, and Grayson counties may all make 
equal claim to the incomparable scenery spread out on every 
side of the White Top Mountain. To confine one's self to the 
magnificent picture presented to the tourist on first seeing 
the carpeted summit of White Top, relieved by a background 
of fir and lashhorn trees, is itself sufficient to stamp the place 
of the first order. This grassy plateau, on the top of the 
mountains, of one hundred acres, is covered over with a thick 
and deep turf of some grass usual to high altitudes, and un- 
known in the valleys below ; watered here and there by crys- 
tal springs, it affords, in spring and summer, fine, nutritious 
grazing to stock, etc., which only serve by their presence to 
heighten the effect of the rare, splendid picture of the green 
field with its setting of darker green, 5,500 feet above the 
sea. 

Then, looking through the clear atmosphere on any side, 
with the field-glass, or without it, a rare and lovely landscape 
meets the eye. In the distance may be seen the pigmy look- 
ing railway trains, apparently moving at a snail's pace, 
though going at high speed, leaving behind them trails 
of smoke of deeper and lighter shades. 



112 SMYTH CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS. 

The open farms look like blankets of green upon a great 
surface of darker colors. Only by seeing it can the view be 
appreciated. 

Saltville stands in broken groups in a basin, cut by the 
hand of nature out of an emerald. This lovely vale sits the 
mistress of all scenery ! Beyond the power of description, a 
vocabulary of praise would hang like an ugly web upon its 
quiet beauty. It is sweetest nature in its noblest moment 
frozen into eternal repose. It is a poem of Heaven, making 
music in the hearts of the glad and the sad alike. It is the 
last and most beautiful touch of the Almighty Hand, re- 
newed every year in changing hues, speaking plainly, " This 
is my handiwork ! Behold it ! " 

So are the many other beautiful pieces of nature's painting 
in this county, but all must yield the palm to Saltville 
Basin. 

Not in the days when it was but a salt, salt sea did it give 
promise of its resurrection, in these latter days, into such a 
living source of beauty and profit. What a pity that man 
should mar it, or make other use of it than for the glory of 
Him who made it. Not that we say it is being used other- 
wise now, for it gives of its substance to thousands. 

To attempt to eulogize its beauty would be to multiply 
words without the power to touch the subject ; so we leave 
it, radiant in its own power, to best proclaim itself un- 
equaled. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

At this time the Chilhowie Holston Springs, on the Middle 
Fork of Holston River, ten miles southwest of Marion, are the 
principal springs prepared to keep visitors. Their waters 
have not yet been fully analyzed ; but their general character, 
together with the fine air and lovely river scenery, combine 
to render the place attractive. 



SMYTH CO. — FURNACES AND FORGES. 113 

MANUFACTURES. 

The county is not only supplied with the requisite num- 
ber of good grist and saw mills, in various neighborhoods,, 
tanneries, etc., but it has two first-class woolen factories, be- 
sides the great manufactory for salt at Saltville. 

The Holston "Woolen Mills, situated about six miles south- 
west from Marion on the South Fork of Holston River, now 
annually turn out large quantities of cassi meres, jeans, blank- 
ets, etc. 

The factory in Rich Valley will do the same, and both have 
become recognized as safe and successful institutions of their 
kind. Marion has long been known as having one of the 
best plow factories in the country, supplying a very large 
trade. 

FURNACES AND FORGES. 

Panic Furnace, or what is now called White Rock Furnace, 
went into blast August 9th, 1875, for some years out of blast, 
but is again at work under its new ownership, that of the 
Lobdell Car Wheel Co., of Wilmington, Del., as a cold-blast 
charcoal six-ton furnace. It derives its ores from the large 
beds in the slopes of White Rock and Glade Mountains and 
vicinity ; and will perhaps command some of the magnetic 
ores of Grayson and Ashe counties, it being proposed to con- 
nect this furnace, the magnetic ores mentioned, and Rural 
Retreat on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, by 
means of a narrow-gauge railroad. 

Pearce's Forge, three and a half miles below Sugar Grove, 
on South Fork of Holston River, makes excellent bar iron 
from the ores of the great iron belt in that vicinity. 

This is about the sum of the important manufactories, fur- 
naces, and forges in Smyth now in operation, or contem- 
plated to go to work soon. The old furnace in Staley's Mill 
8 



114 SMYTH CO. — LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

Creek neighborhood is scarcely worth mentioning except 
from a historical point of view. It seems to have been in 
use during the late unpleasantness, and is said to have illus- 
trated the high quality of the ores of that vicinity. 

LINES OP TRANSPORTATION. 

The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad runs through 
the county from east to west, or, rather, from northeast to 
southwest, bringing the county into communication with the 
eastern seaboard, and the western and southern railroads 
and rivers. The Saltville branch of this line also leads back 
into this county, although it leaves the main stem in Wash- 
ington County. 

In Rich Valley, or the valley of the North Fork of Holston 
River, are the projected lines of branches of the Richmond 
and Southwestern Railroad, and of the Virginia, Kentucky 
and Ohio Railroad. Either of these, if built, will open up 
the vast plaster deposits of Buchanan's Cove, and the agri- 
cultural and mineral resources of a fine section. 

There are also one or two lines of railway chartered to 
cross the country, leading both toward the cojiper mines 
south of the Iron Mountain, and toward Tazewell County on 
the north side. One of them to the south, the Virginia and 
Statesville Railroad, may at some day be built from Adkins, 
on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, through 
Grayson and Ashe, etc., to Statesville, N. C, opening a rich 
mineral and timber region. The other, the Saltville and 
Coal Mine Railroad, will soon commence construction from 
Saltville to the coal measures in Russell, etc. 

Fish Culture will finally become a necessary industry in 
Smyth County. The streams now have a great many fine 
bass, redeye, chub, sucker, and the mountain streams some 
trout. Lick Creek, which comes out from the direction of 



SMYTH CO. — EDUCATION. 115 

Burk's Garden, has still some trout, as well as many streams 
flowing from the Iron Mountain. 

The streams are well adapted to game fish, and will at 
some day be utilized on account of their industrial value in 
this way. 

Bee Culture is carried to some perfection in Smyth, not so 
much for the profit on the honey raised for market, as for 
home use. Many improved gums have been tried, of which 
the Starbuck patent seems to be very generally in use. 
There is also another one of home invention, known as the 
Davis hive, which seems to meet the requirements of this 
latitude. 

Grape, Culture, which seems now not to attract so much at- 
tention, was once a subject of importance. Much wine was 
made, by the Sprinkles particularly, a few miles east of Ma- 
rion ; but now, except for table use, but little attention is 
being paid to the improvement of the grape, or to its culture 
as a wine crop. 

TRADE IN CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, COEN, ETC. 

Cattle, about 2,300 head sold annually— 75 thorough-bred annually from Palmer at Saltville. 

Sheep, " .... 3,-200 " 
Wool , " .... 15,000 pounds. 
Wheat, " .... 95,000 bushels. 
Corn, but a small surplus is sold. 
Barytes, 1,600 tons. 

EDUCATION. 

More than usual attention has been paid to the important 
question of education in Smyth. There is a fine high school 
at Marion, the Marion High School for boys and girls. 
This is evidenced by the numbers that are sent from sur- 
rounding counties. Besides this, and other good schools of 
its kind, the public school system is kept up to as high a 
state of efficiency as the public funds will permit. 



116 SMYTH CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Marion, the county site, is nearly in the center of the 
county, on the Middle Fork of Holston River, and by it 
passes the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. Marion, 
besides its good school, has timber factories, fine flour- 
ing mills, hotels, churches, stores, a bank, and various repair 
shops, and ought naturally to be a thriving place. 

Saltville, as yet a village, is at the present terminus of the 
saltworks branch of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Rail- 
road, and is the center of a large trade growing out of the in- 
dustries of salt manufacturing, plaster mining, and grinding. 
It has a good hotel, a tasteful church, and handsome resi- 
dences, store, and numerous salt factories with their appur- 
tenances. 

Its trade amounts to about five hundred thousand dollars 
annually. 

When the contemplated system of roads, north and south, 
shall have been completed by which the great sulphureted 
beds and veins of Grayson, Carroll, and Ashe counties can 
be utilized, extensive works for the manufacture of the fine 
fertilizer, soda ash, will be erected at or near Saltville. 
England now manufactures many millions of tons of this 
cheap fertilizer annually. 

Seven Mile Ford, on Middle Fork, long known as the west- 
ern terminus of the macadamized turnpike which leads east- 
war dly to James River, is now also a station on the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. 

It is a beautiful place, taken with its surroundings. 

Adkins, toward the eastern end of the county, and 

Greevers, toward the western side of the county, are both 
thriving places, on the same railroad, doing a good deal of 
trade. 

Chatham Sill, in Rich Valley, near the great plaster depos- 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 117 

its of Buchanan's Cove, lias two or three stores, a church, 
and smith shops. It is a rambling hamlet, healthfully situ- 
ated on the road leading up from the south bank of North 
Fork of Holston. 

Broad Ford, on North Fork, is a place also where a great 
deal of business is done. And among other known places in 
the county are, Thomas's, Holston's Mills, Harmon's, Til- 
son's, Sugar Grove, Chilhowie, Blue Spring, and Sinclair's 
Bottoms. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

It is not astonishing that one of the fairest portions of the 
State should have been chosen to be named after Washing- 
ton. The county which bears his name is one of the largest, 
most populous, and among the most important in the State, 
in every respect. Its large area ; wide expanse of grass, 
grain, and tobacco lands ; fine ores, marbles, etc. ; fine for- 
ests, mineral springs, and noble scenery, make it necessary 
to use language in its description which, to the impartial 
reader, sounds like mere fulsome flattery. 

Several of the mountain chains, which are so high and 
rugged farther east, in passing through Washington are so 
modified as to be no longer the barriers they are in Wythe 
and Smyth. Thus the Big and Little Walker's Mountains, 
particularly, have so far disappeared as to present almost 
one vast plain of undulating fields and woods from Clinch 
Mountain on the north to Iron Mountain on the south ; leav- 
ing so much broader an expanse of arable lands to meet the 
eye, and contribute to the wealth and prosperity of the com- 
munity. So that in Washington the Great Valley of Virginia 
is twenty miles wide, unbroken except by inferior ridges, 
which serve more as divides between the waters of different 
forks of Holston Eiver than anything else. 



118 WASHINGTON CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 

"Washington, also, holding some of the most considerable 
towns and villages in that section of the State, claims addi- 
tional importance on that account. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

The Clinch Mountain separates Washington from Russell 
on the north, a length of thirty- three miles. On the south, 
the Virginia and Tennessee State line is the boundary ; toward 
the southeast is the great White Top Mountain between Wash- 
ington and Grayson Counties ; but that southeastern corner, 
which is alike the northeastern corner of the State of Ten- 
nessee, is not in the White Top Mountain, but on Pond 
Mountain, seven miles southwest of White Top. East, 
Washington is bounded by Smyth County, and w r est by the 
county of Scott. 

HOW WATERED. 

The different branches of the Holston River and some of 
their tributaries afford never-failing streams to every part 
of the county. A part of the lower section of North Fork of 
Holston River, as well as the South Fork, discharge enough 
water to render their improvement for navigation purposes 
possible. The Middle and South Forks of Holston unite in 
this county and continue as the South Fork. Laurel Creek, 
a tributary which derives its waters from streams flowing 
out of White Top Mountain and from Tennessee, is a stream 
of great importance, as affording abundance of water at all 
seasons. It empties into the South Fork. Wolf Creek and 
others which flow near Abingdon are valuable ; likewise is 
the creek which flows out by Bristol, besides others of value 
in different parts of the county. 

GEOLOGICAL. 
It is merely a repetition to put in a geological section for 
Washington, although for convenience it is proper to do so. 



WASHINGTON CO. — IKON. 119 

The section for Smyth County shows the different rocks 
making their appearance in Washington, though there is 
a difference in their arrangement. Unlike Smyth County, 
Washington is free froni those intermediate ranges known as 
Glade and White Rock Mountains, and their extension is 
occupied either by Lower Silurian limestones or St. Peter 
black shales and brown sandstones, as is the case two or 
three miles south of Abingdon, in the Knobs. 

Toward the extreme southeast are the Huronian rocks, in 
White Top and Pond Mountains ; then going north over the 
Upper Huronian, the Lower Cambrian are encountered in 
the north slopes of Iron Mountain ; then in the main val- 
leys, as on South Fork of Holston River, Lower Silurian lime- 
stones. These limestones then prevail entirely across the 
valley, except the district of the Knobs just spoken of, and 
also a line of rather indistinct Upper Silurian rocks near the 
south side of North Fork, and such of the Devonian series as 
show the succession of knobs westwardly, toward the Scott 
County line. On the north side of North Fork are the 
Devonian rocks in Brushy Mountain, succeeded, northwardly, 
by Clinch Mountain and the Upper Silurian series. That 
this enumeration includes valuable mineral-bearing series 
cannot be doubted. 

IEON. 

The valuable Brown Ores of Washington are mainly con- 
fined to the Oriskany measures on the south side of Clinch 
Mountain. 

That portion of Iron Mountain in the county must yield 
some of those brown ores for which it is noted at other points, 
but no great developments have been made as yet. Toward 
the point where the South Fork of Holston flows into Ten- 
nessee there are excellent brown ores in the limestones, 
found close to a band of magnetic ores. From these deposits 



120 WASHINGTON CO. — iLVGNETIC IRON ORES. 

Las been taken a great deal of ore for use in a furnace close 
by, now out of blast, known as the Eagle Furnace of Sullivan 
County, Tennessee. 

The ores of the Oriskany rocks in Clinch Mountain are not 
the only brown ores in that section ; but they are the most 
important, not only on account of their greater purity, but 
more reliable quantity: they, however, follow the rule govern- 
ing these measures farther east, and are found at intervals 
along the course of the mountain, on the south side, in a 
direction about north 70° east, and south 70° west. 

Red Iron Ores. 

Ores of this class, except a considerable band of pure spec- 
ular ores on North Fork, are not reported in any appreciable 
quantity outside of the fossil red ore in the Clinch Moun- 
tain. Some handsome fragments have been taken from an 18- 
inch vein, just east of Little Moccasin Gap, in the Washing- 
ton-Kussell line, on the Fossil Belt. 

Magnetic Iron Ores or Semi-Magnetic Red Ores. 

The magnetic ores of Washington seem to be of that class, 
which, at the same time they are abundant, are of the kind 
most easily reducible. The most considerable deposits oc- 
cupy a line about 1\ miles south of the Atlantic, Mississippi 
and Ohio Railroad at the Gollaher Bank, and also running 
with the general direction of the South Fork of Holston 
River ; and one deposit may be said to show to advantage in 
the vicinity of the mouth of Fifteen Mile Creek. Here the 
measure is about three feet — sometimes greater — generally 
between walls of limestone, dipping at a high angle south- 
wardly. 

The Gallaher ore is near a stratum of St. Peter's sandstone, 
and shows nearly 1,000 tons on the surface. 



WASHINGTON CO. — PLASTER AND SALT. 121 

These measures are more or less continuous for eight or nine 
miles, with a high probability that farther developments will 
prove them much longer. The old forge on the south side 
of the river, near the mouth of Wolf Creek, has used these 
ores, producing an excellent bar iron. 

The next observed line of magnetic ores is on the lands of 
Preston, three miles east of Bristol, about 300 yards south of the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. The developments 
now in progress will reveal their true character, quantity, etc. 
That the White Top Mountain and vicinity will reveal mag- 
netic ores, specular and brown ores in quantity in this county 
there can scarcely be room for doubt ; though it is now to be 
regretted that so few developments have been made both in 
that vicinity and in Iron Mountain. 

COPPER 

Will be found to exist in several lines of ores in the county, 
but not in sufficient quantity to justify working on a large 
scale. At least, up to the present, no developments would 
lead to other conclusions. 

LEAD AND ZINC. 

The extraordinary measures which hold such vast amounts 
of lead and zinc farther east in Wythe, etc., would naturally 
pursue a line running with the general course of the South 
Fork of Holston River ; but it seems, from the examinations 
made, that this fine series has been thrown up in the general 
upheaval to such an altitude as to have been denuded and 
carried away. No large quantities of either of the minerals 
may be confidently looked for, to judge from present indica- 
tions. 

PLASTER AND SALT. 

It would be difficult to estimate the approximate quantity 
of the great Saltville deposit assignable to Washington 



122 WASHINGTON CO. — MARBLE. 

County. The great fissure in which these invaluable depos- 
its lie extends for some miles into the county, in a direction 
parallel with and south of the North Fork of Holston River. 

It is not at all conclusive that the lesser apparent surface 
indications determine that a smaller quantity exists in "Wash- 
ington than in Smyth ; that is, as to the Saltville deposits. 
No one can tell what great cavities and inequalities between 
the sides of the fissure may exist below ground. That there 
are such the Saltville basin itself is positive proof; and, oc- 
curring as it did so near the surface, it needed but little 
exploration to bring out its character. 

Washington County, it may confidently be asserted, holds 
immense masses and deposits of both these valuable min- 
erals close to the Washington-Smyth line. At the Buena 
Yista Plaster Works, the quality of the plaster is unexcep- 
tionable, and the only wonder is that the sale of this valu- 
able fertilizer isn't treble what it now is. 

As remarked in treating of Smyth County, should the own- 
ers adopt the plan of showing all its qualities as a permanent 
fertilizer, as well as a mere stimulant for growing crops, it 
can scarcely be doubted that the demand for it will greatly 
increase. This result could not better be secured than by 
studying thoroughly all the relations borne by gypsum to 
agricultural chemistry, and then having them thoroughly 
ventilated before the people of every county in each neigh- 
boring State, as well as in Virginia, by a good lecturer at 
every public gathering. 

MARBLE. 

A variegated marble in thick bands exists in a line of rocks 
south of the North Fork of Holston River, and parallel in 
trend with the general course of that stream. This series 
may be said to lie nearly at the junction of the Trenton and 
Hudson sub-ejjochs. The industrial value of these marbles 



WASHINGTON CO. — WATER POWER. 123 

lias not yet been fully tested ; judging from their good 
appearance now and then they will be in demand for orna- 
mental purposes. 

BARYTES 

Exists in some quantity about the middle-southern part of 
the county, but the quantity has not yet been fully ascer- 
tained by actual development. 

TIMBER. 

The southern part of the county, in the vicinity of White 
Top Mountain and the slopes of Iron Mountain, presents 
areas still very heavily timbered with a growth of fine tim- 
ber. 

Poor Valley, except in the vicinity of Saltville, is still heav- 
ily timbered. Should the question of quantity arise in con- 
nection with the making of iron in the vicinity of the greater 
deposits of iron ore, it may be answered that a sufficient 
quantity of cheap charcoal is accessible to supply a large 
demand for a number of years to come. 

The kinds of timber are all those common to the latitude. 
In the southern part, besides balsam, lashhorn, etc., there 
are quantities of wild cherry, poplar, etc. About through 
the great valley district there are fine walnut trees, and in 
places quite abundant. 

"White oak is the prevalent tree. In the Clinch Mountain 
are large boundaries of chestnut, chestnut oak, with hickory, 
etc. 

WATER POWER. 

Washington could afford water power for any desirable 
purpose if called upon. The different branches of Holston 
River and their tributaries offer facilities possessed by only 
a few counties in the State. Taking into consideration the 
large area of the county, and the unfailing character of the 



124 WASHINGTON CO. — AGKICULTURE. 

rather large streams contributing power, the aggregate num- 
ber of mill sites which may be used indifferently for large 
grist-mills, cotton or woolen mills, or saw-mills, is great 
enough to defy computation. 

South and North Forks, where they flow into Tennessee, 
discharge about 400 cubic feet per second each. 

AGRICULTURE. 

Agriculture being the chief pursuit of the people, and the 
land being in a fine grass-producing section, the county now 
derives nearly all its revenues and support from that source. 
Like its sister counties, Washington does not pretend to 
have made much headway in farming as a science ; land is 
still too abundant and cheap, and population too scarce ; but 
nature has made these limestone lands so rich, and has given 
such propitious seasons, together with so admirable an eleva- 
tion above the sea, that the different grasses, growing in rich 
profusion season after season, would almost alone render the 
county remarkably capable of producing the best and most 
constant revenue. 

Space would not permit a description of particular locali- 
ties most famous for the fertility and productiveness of their 
soil. It would be an invidious task at best. To get on some 
elevated point and look over the broad expanse of the county, 
the eye meets with a most pleasing picture in the alternation 
of hill and dale, of woodland and pasture, occupying such a 
widely extended area. It is not a mere series of plantations, 
side by side along the banks of a large stream, with all the 
rest in swamp or inaccessible mountain ; the whole broad val- 
ley is quilted over with farms of princely size, and many of 
them of surpassing beauty. 

In wheat, corn, grasses, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, flax, 
etc., the county for the greater part has few equals as a pro- 
ducer. 



WASHINGTON CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS. 125 

TOBACCO CULTURE. 

Of late years tobacco culture lias reached a high limit in 
the county, and that staple is now being produced to the 
extent of 1,200,000 pounds of leaf annually. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

The Seven Springs, between Glade Spring and Saltville, on 
the Saltville branch of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio 
Railroad, is the place at which is now being made the widely 
and justly famed Seven Springs Iron and Alum Mass. At 
these springs are nicely arranged furnaces and boilers for 
reducing the water drawn from the Seven Springs, the waters 
from which, when analyzed together, gave in advance the 
medicinal constituents which have proven of such high effi- 
cacy in nearly all forms of disease. Dr. J. W. Mallet, of 
the University of Virginia, is the chemist whose searching 
analysis first showed the wonderful therapeutic value of this 
water. 

It is now confidently believed that, with an energetic sys- 
tem of advertising throughout the country, the demand for 
this mass must be far in excess of any possible supply. 

A most careful inquiry into results reveals the fact, that 
out of the thousands of medicines of every conceivable kind 
put before the people as infallible, the mass of these springs 
has been found to yield an almost infallible remedy for the 
diseases indicated by the distinguished chemist named above. 

Mungel's Springs, situated nine miles northwest of Abing- 
don, has a fine spring almost in the edge of the North Fork 
of Holston River. This spring yields a distinctly white sul- 
phur sediment, with an arsenical tinge. It has a high local 
reputation for curative virtues, and, with proper accommo- 
dations for visitors, should command a good patronage. Its 



126 WASHINGTON CO. — SCENERY. 

situation is romantic and picturesque to a very high degree, 
with a lovely river flowing through rich scenery, set in a 
background of high hills overtopped by higher mountains. 

WASHINGTON SPRINGS. 

These springs are one and a half miles north from Glade 
Spring Depot, Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. Be- 
sides being situated in a lovely spot amid the mountains, 
with extensive views of noble plains and the vast mountains 
about the White Top, its springs are justly regarded as dis- 
tinctly medicinal and of high curative power. At these 
springs are found waters of four distinct varieties, the most 
effective being an alum-chalybeate spring near and east of 
the hotel, and a white sulphur spring, yielding a low per- 
centage of arsenic, situated in a lovely spot west of the hotel. 
If mere curative power is a matter of importance, these 
springs may be ranked among those most likely to sustain a 
high reputation. To this should be added the healthful and 
beautiful location close to a leading line of important rail- 
way. 

Mendota,has in its vicinity, in the Hamilton Slates, several 
good sulphur and chalybeate springs. In the county, at nu- 
merous places, are springs of lesser note, needing only de- 
velopment to prove their efficacy and value. 

SCENERY. 

"When it is remembered that from nearly all parts of the 
county can be seen the White Top and Balsam Mountains, 
towering 5,500 feet above the sea, with other grand moun- 
tains in the distance, it is not too much to say that Washing- 
ton County presents every description of fine scenery. A 
view of the vast plain of the great valley itself, in its garni- 
ture of mountains, is most beautiful and pleasing. Such of 




ARSENIC SPRING, WASHINGTON SPRINGS, WASHINGTON CO., VA. 
(P. 126.) 



WASHINGTON CO. — MANUFACTURES. 127 

the creeks as lead down from the higher mountains, with 
their bright limpid waters dashing over numerous ledges and 
boulders, in cascades and falls of a thousand different forms, 
fringed by dark foliage composed of tree and shrub, present 
innumerable pictures at once romantic and surpassingly 
beautiful. No power can describe the inimitable view from 
the White Top Mountain. From this elevated point the dis- 
tant mountains of Kentucky are visible far to the northwest. 
The serried lines of the parallel chains of Virginia mountains 
stretch away to meet the sky, until the view is lost in the 
azure haze of the great distance. To the south, the lone and 
lofty mountains of the Unaka Range relieve all sameness, not 
more by their isolated grandeur, than their beautiful and gi- 
gantic proportions. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Washington County has shown a fine spirit in the estab- 
lishment of fine woolen mills, so well calculated to consume 
at home its own surplus wool, and much of that of the sur- 
rounding counties. Besides these woolen factories and the 
large tobacco factories at Abingdon and Bristol-Goodson, 
there are no manufactories of consequence. One mile west of 
Abingdon, on Wolf Creek, are situated the woolen mills of 
J. H. Pepper & Sons, running one set of cards, 340 spindles, 
and 4 looms, making jeans, flannels, linseys, cassimeres, and 
blankets. A regular custom mill, run by a Leffel's turbine 
wheel. 

The Bristol Woolen Mills, half a mile east of Bristol, on 
the Town, or Beaver Creek, runs 504 spindles and 8 looms by 
water power — most improved 48-inch machinery — making 
linseys, cassimeres, jeans, satinets, and blankets, consuming 
50,000 pounds of wool annually. 

It may not be out of our province to mention the mills on 
the Tennessee side of Bristol. The City Woolen Mills are 



128 WASHINGTON CO. — FURNACES AND FORGES. 

situated on the same creek, half a mile west of Bristol, 
using 40-inch machinery, run 240 spindles and 5 looms, con- 
suming 100 pounds of wool a day. Goods of excellent qual- 
ity, cassimeres, satinets, flannels, blankets, shawls, etc. ; yarns 
card and spun for farmers. Business chiefly, like that of Bris- 
tol Woolen Mills, with the farmers, in exchange, at the rate 
usually of one yard of satinet to two pounds of top-washed 
wool ; cassimeres, one yard for two and a half to three pounds 
of top wool. 

Below these mills, about one mile, are the Bristol Cotton 
Mills, on the same stream, 992 spindles, 18 looms ; product, 
80 bunches of yarn daily, and 650 yards of sheeting. Factory 
employs twenty-five hands. One half of the machinery was 
made by Danforth, of Paterson, N. J. The new, or last half, 
came from the machine works of Lowell, Mass.; appears very 
fine indeed. 

At Abingdon is situated one of the finest tobacco factories 
in the State. The quality of the article produced bears favor- 
able comparison with the product cf the older factories. It 
was established in 1876, and now handles over 1,500,000 
pounds annually. At Bristol-Goodson there is also a to- 
bacco factory, with the prospect of another soon. There 
are also at Bristol two tobacco warehouses handling about 
1,000,000 pounds of leaf — possibly 100,000 pounds of chew- 
ing and smoking tobacco. At Abingdon the tobacco ware- 
houses are the Greenway, Snow, and Holston factories, to 
which has just been added another. 

FURNACES AND FORGES. 

"Washington County has now no iron furnaces in operation. 
There is a good forge of 700 pounds capacity, situated near 
the mouth of Wolf Creek, on the south bank of the South 
Fork of Holston Eiver, which runs chiefly on magnetic ore 
of that vicinity, not now in blast. 



WASHINGTON CO. — BRISTOL. 129 



TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 



Abingdon, the county site, with a population of 1,700, is 
one of the oldest towns west of the Blue Ridge. Its situ- 
ation is pleasant if not beautiful, having many attractive 
features about it. 

Its two fine female colleges, handsomely situated, add much 
to the attractiveness of the place. Abingdon, besides these 
schools, has a spacious court-house in which is held, not only 
the county and circuit courts of the commonwealth, but the 
circuit court of the United States for the large district of 
which Abingdon is nearly the geographical center. Here are 
also churches of nearly all denominations, three well-kept 
hotels, a good livery stable, numerous stores, dealing in every 
description of merchandise, medicine, stationery, etc. There 
are tanneries, establishments for the manufacture and repair 
of wagons, harness, smith shops, etc. This town being situ- 
ated nearly in the center of the county, on the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, commands a considerable 
trade, not only from the county of Washington, but from sur- 
rounding counties in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Caro- 
lina. Among Abingdon's chief institutions are her two en- 
terprising weekly public prints, The Standard and The 
Virginian. 

BRISTOL. 

Bristol is a town of 4,000 inhabitants lying in the States 
of Virginia and Tennessee, at the western terminus of the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad ; its Virginia portion 
being usually known by the name of Goodson. 

It is a town of quite recent origin, dating back to about 
1858. Bristol is the center of quite a manufacturing district ; 
besides the woolen, cotton, and tobacco factories enumerated 
above, it has quite an extensive machinery for facilitating 
carpenter's work. 



130 WASHINGTON CO. — BUENA VISTA. 

Its enterprising citizens have made Bristol the center of a 
large and growing tobacco trade ; in fact there is no branch of 
industry left neglected. The various newspapers published 
there, of which there are two or more, have been very efficient 
in building up the place, though it has not had such a magical 
growth as most of Western towns. Its hotels are sufficient in 
number and attractiveness to be efficient aids in the develop- 
ment of the place. The stores of all kinds of merchandise, 
attractive watch-making establishments, presided over by the 
best talent in the country, together with churches of various 
denominations, make Bristol a place of note in the surround- 
ing country. 

GLADE SPEING. 

This name applies to two places near each other, Glade 
Spring Depot, at the south terminus of the Saltville Branch 
Railroad, taking its name from Old Glade Spring, which is 
situated two miles to the south on the old stage road. 

Glade Spring Depot is an inviting looking place, with most 
of its houses built in good style and freshly painted. Its 
good hotel helps to render it a desirable place to spend the 
hot summer months. The cool vine-covered veranda, good 
table, and cleanly rooms will be remembered by many who 
have partaken of its comforts. This place has some trade, 
chiefly with the southern part of the county, Tennessee, and 
North Carolina. It is supplied, like nearly all the towns, vil- 
lages, and hamlets of Southwestern Virginia, with Masonic or 
Odd Fellows lodges, or both. 

BUENA VISTA. 

Buena Vista is in that part of the Saltville Basin extending 
into Washington County. It is from its mills that the excel- 
lent article of plaster known as Buena Yista plaster comes. 



WASHINGTON CO. — FISH CULTURE. 131 

EMORY. 

Emory is the noted station, on the Atlantic, Mississippi and 
Ohio Eailroad, for Emory and Henry College, through the 
grounds of which college the railroad passes. 

On this railroad west of Abingdon are Wallace's and Mont- 
gomery's, two points that bid fair, at some day, to become 
trading places of some note. 

Mendota is a village on the north side of North Holston 
Eiver, important on account of its good school, besides hav- 
ing some trade with the neighboring country. 

Greendale, Friendship, and Mock's Mitt are places of some 
note in the county. 

LINES OP TRANSPORTATION. 

The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Eailroad passes 
through the heart of the county, in one of the great through 
lines from New York to New Orleans. From Glade Spring 
starts the Saltville branch of the Atlantic, Mississippi and 
Ohio Kailroad, nine miles to Saltville. From Bristol to Cum- 
berland Gap is now being constructed a narrow-gauge railroad 
— known as the Bristol Coal and Iron Eailroad — by the Tin- 
salia Coal and Iron Company, the object of which is to bring 
Bristol and connections in communication with the vast beds 
of coal and iron along the route of the proposed road. 

Washington County will also derive a proportionate advan- 
tage from the construction of the Saltville and Coal Mine 
Eailroad, the route for which is now being surveyed. 

Both forks of Holston Eiver might be determined, upon a 
close examination, to be susceptible of being made navigable. 

FISH CULTURE. 

Some gentlemen of the county are taking quite an interest 
in the propagation of fine varieties of fish. The German carp 



132 WASHINGTON CO. — EDUCATION. 

seems to be a favorite. No doubt the State Commission will 
take the waters of the Holston under its special care soon. 
Bee culture is an industry of great local value, as evidenced 
by the interest taken in different improved hives. Grape 
culture in varieties for home use is carried to considerable 
perfection. 

ANNUAL SURPLUS OF CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, CORN, TOBACCO, ETC. 

Fat cattle, 2,500 head. 

Stock cattle, 5,400 head. 

Sheep, 9,300 head. 

Wheat, 60,000 bushels. 

Corn, 1,000 bushels. 

Oats, 5,000 bushels. 

Leaf tobacco, 465,500 pounds shipped. 

Manufactured tobacco, 130,000 pounds from Abingdon, and 
about the same quantity from Bristol-Goodson Factory. 

Staves, 3,362,000 pounds. 

It is almost impossible to get at the exact number of cattle 
and sheep in any county ; but the above estimate, made from 
different sources, may be said to give reliable figures. 

EDUCATION. 

Much to the credit of the citizens of the county the sub- 
ject of education has always been one of great importance, 
and has fully succeeded in engaging their attention to good 
effect. 

Outside of the public schools there are no less than five 
permanent colleges and schools, four of which are institutions 
chartered to grant diplomas for a full course of scholastic 
learning. 

Emory and Henry College is the principal male college, 



WASHINGTON CO. — MARTHA WASHINGTON COLLEGE. 133 

and Martha Washington College and Stonewall Jackson Fe- 
male Institute, both of Abingdon, are female colleges of high 
merit. 

EMORY AND HENRY COLLEGE, 

Situated twelve miles east of Abingdon, on the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio Eailroad, was established under au- 
thority of the State, in the year 1838. It has had quite 
a successful history in the past, some of the most distin- 
guished men of the country having been students there. With 
an excellent faculty now, and fine facilities for education, it 
is entitled to a large and growing patronage. The grounds 
and buildings, laid out with great skill for the objects aimed 
at, have been brought in the course of over forty years to a 
higlr state of beauty as well as adaptation to the purposes in 
view. It has a very attractive feature, also, in a fine farm of 
over 300 acres. From the beauty, convenience, and perfec- 
tion of this college, in all its appointments, we are led almost 
irresistibly to advocate still further the views set forth in 
the treatment of the County of Montgomery — namely, that 
Emory should be secured by the State, and turned into the 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, combining the excellent 
faculties of these two institutions, and using the buildings at 
Blacksburg for the purposes indicated in the remarks on that 
part of Montgomery County. 

Without going more into detail in the description of Emory 
and Henry College, the subject may be dismissed with the 
hope that the excellent and convenient location of the col- 
lege, its fine faculty, and the really beautiful arrangements 
of its buildings in a place of great natural beauty and health- 
fulness may bring it a prosperous future. 

MARTHA WASHINGTON COLLEGE 

Was established at Abingdon, previous to 1861, to be a col- 
lege, of high grade for young ladies. It is generally be- 



134 GILES COUNTY. 

lievecl to fully meet the expectations entertained of it by its 
friends. 

Its faculty is highly recommended by the most experienced 
talent in that line in the State, and it is fair to presume that 
this institution is justly entitled to high commendation. 

It occupies a beautiful and tasteful building surrounded by 
admirable grounds in the old town of Abingdon. 

STONEWALL JACKSON FEMALE INSTITUTE 

Is also situated in Abingdon, with grounds and buildings that 
should alone speak volumes in its favor. It was established 
subsequent to 1865. Its history has been a record of a de- 
gree of success which its friends could hardly have hoped 
for it. Its name, its painstaking faculty, and fine situation, 
should enable it to command a growing patronage. 

Sullin's Institute of Bristol, though just over the line in 
the State of Tennessee, is regarded almost as a Virginian 
institution. It has been very largely patronized by young 
ladies from Virginia, and bids fair to have a very successful 
future. The same may be said of King's College, likewise 
located at Bristol. Mendota High School for Boys and Girls 
is regarded as one of the best schools of its kind in that 
section. It has had, hitherto, great success, and has drawn 
pupils from quite a distance. 

There are other excellent schools in different parts of the 
county, besides which are the usual number of public schools 
throughout the county, now reported by the Superintendent 
of Public Education as increasing in efficiency. 

GILES COUNTY. 

It is rare that nature repeats such a combination of fine 
ores in veins and deposits, mineral waters, superior grass 
and grain lands, together with noble forest, river, and lake 



GILES CO. — HOW BOUNDED. 135 

scenery, as is presented in the area covered by Giles 
County. 

The great mountain chains, which may be said to occupy 
the southwestern prolongation of the Alleghany Range, are 
here broken in two, and apparently swept back, like the 
stately and beautiful structures which form the sides of a 
pair of gates incomparably great in size and architecture. In 
the great basin formed by this vast opening is the heart of 
the county : green fields and forest-covered hills, threaded 
through the center by the beautiful and rapid New River ; a 
stream buttressed half its length by lofty cliffs of limestone, 
carved out, in the course of time, into such shapes as to lift 
the scenery along it out of the mere commonplace, and ele- 
vating it into the beautiful, not to say the sublime. 

To its other more notable features, Giles County adds the 
highly important one of being the great gateway of all the 
projected lines of railway, both leading from the Virginia 
seaboard toward the great west, and from north to south. 
In this particular this county is peculiar, seeming to oc- 
cupy a position which brings it within an air line for four 
different east and west railroad lines, and for two from north 
to south. 

To do justice to this noble county, in the space here allot- 
ted to it, is an impossibility. Indeed it is a question, 
whether or not any description could be written adequate 
to the just claims of this county to pre-eminence, considered 
in all its features actual and possible. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Giles County is now one of the border counties of Virginia; 
its northern neighbors being the counties of Monroe and 
Mercer, in West Virginia, separated from Giles by the great 
iron-bearing mountain range known as Peter's and East 
River Mountains. 



136 GILES CO. — NOTABLE PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

West, it is bounded by the county of Bland, Va., east, by 
Craig County, Va., and south by the counties of Montgomery 
and Pulaski, two of the important counties treated in this 
volume. 

HOW WATERED. 

The whole area of the county is well watered by New 
River, flowing through the middle of the county, from south 
to north, and several of its larger tributaries, such as Big and 
Little Stony, Sinking and Doe Creeks, on the east side, and 
Wolf and Walker's Creeks, with minor tributaries, on the 
west side. Little Stony Creek has for its source the cele- 
brated mountain lake on the top of Salt Pond Mountain, 
4,000 feet above sea level. 

NOTABLE PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

As before remarked, the northern boundary line is marked 
by Peter's and East River Mountains, really continuations of 
each other, Peter's Mountain being to the northeast of New 
River, and East River Mountain to the southwest, in the 
sa.me line. Next toward the central part of the county is the 
lofty and beautiful Angel's Rest, about 4,000 feet above sea 
level ; opposite to which, on the northeast side of the river, 
is the Butte Mountain, of the same general elevation. Flank- 
ing this latter on the south is the Salt Pond Mountain, with 
its bald knob towering nearly 5,000 feet above the sea ; the 
northwestern face of this high knob being washed by the 
crystal waters of Mountain Lake, no less remarkable for its 
beauty and elevated position in the top of a high mountain 
than for the fact of its recent origin. 

The Salt Pond Mountain, on the northeast, seems to 
answer in position to the Sugar Run Mountain, on the south- 
west side ; leaving between them, as well as between An- 
gel's Rest and Butte Mountain, six or eight, or more miles 



GILES CO. — GEOLOGY. 



137 



^5 

*e a. 



ll»£ 



§§•»> 









~* S S 



to 



5 



*£ S 






©■ ' 






&j 



East River & Peters Mlns. 



Buckhorn & Little. Mtns. 



Wolf Creek. 



W 'olf Creel Mountain (\y-qm.) 

\RrSBURG 

Butte Mountain (b.m.) 
Angels Best (a.k.) 



Pearis Mountain (p.m.} 
&FM TqpMtn. frrJf.) 



f *»S?»-*»i 



alt Pond Mtn. (sejk) 
Mountain Lake* 
Bald Knoh {p.K.) 

Su jar Hun Mtn. (s.eju,) 



Poplar Hill 
Walker's Creek 
Guinea Mtn. 



•keye & Spruce Run Mtns, 



Walkers Mtn.- 



138 GILES CO. — GEOLOGY. 

of limestone grass lands, divided in the middle by New 
River. 

Toward the southern side of the county are the impor- 
tant iron-bearing parallel series, composed of Spruce, John's 
Creek, and Gap Mountains on the northeast side of New 
River, and Buckeye, Guinea Mountain, and Walker's Moun- 
tain on the southwest side of the river, Gap Mountain 
and Walker's Mountain answering to each other in line of 
continuation. 

Angel's Rest Mountain is but the northeastern terminus 
and culmination of the great iron-bearing ridges of Wolf 
Creek Mountain, Pearis Mountain, and Flat Top ; to the im- 
portance of which the reader's attention will presently be 
called. 

GEOLOGY, 

The geology of Giles County rocks is comprised between 
the Upper Calciferous limestones, and the Hamilton Black 
Slates, inclusive. In the latter are sometimes found two or 
three inches of impure bituminous coal, creating the impres- 
sion in the minds of the uninitiated that there are valuable 
beds of coal close under the surface ; but this hope will not 
be realized. 

To properly illustrate the geology, there should be drawn 
several sections across the country, from northwest to south- 
east ; but it is hoped that the section here given will be 
ample to show the positions of the various strata relative to 
each other, as well as their general position, dip, etc. 

Beginning at the southern or southeastern end of the sec- 
tion, the rocks of the Oneida series are first encountered, 
dipping southeastwardly, at angles varying between 30° and 
60°, and occupying a position nearly in the heart of Walker's 
and Gap Mountains ; being on the extreme southern bound- 
ary line they dip at once out of the county, just here. 



GILES CO. — GEOLOGY. 139 

Next to tlie north of, but under the Oneida, are the vari- 
ously colored rocks, highly impregnated with lime, belong- 
ing to the Hudson series, nearly 1,000 feet thick ; next to the 
north, the outcrop of some of the Trenton limestones, 850 
feet thick about. Here a fault or great plication is encoun- 
tered at the northern base of Walker's Mountain, and, at the 
south base of Buckeye Mountain, the Oriskany rocks are en- 
countered, about sixty feet thick, showing six to eight feet of 
fine brown ore, both in Buckeye and Spruce Run Mountains ; 
then north of this the red sandstones and ores of the Clin- 
ton ; then the Oneida, bounded on the north by the Hudson 
series again, with its various colored limestones, based on 
thirty feet of fine variegated marble, somewhat similar to 
Tennessee marble ; then the Trenton, 500 feet thick, gradu- 
ally losing its steep angle of dip as you near the great basin 
in the heart of Giles County, and becoming, for considerable 
distances, almost horizontal. Near the bottom of the Trenton 
rocks, if not in the division between them and the Calcifer- 
ous series, is the position of the famous Giles County semi- 
magnetic red iron ore. 

This vein of ore is one of the most remarkable ever en- 
countered. It has been a source of much speculation in the 
minds of scientific men, and is yet, in the estimation of 
many, an undetermined problem. It deserves a chapter to 
itself, and will receive more full notice further on. 

Pursuing the section northwardly, you begin to ascend out 
of the Trenton into the Hudson series, showing in the base 
of Angel's Rest Mountain, as well as in a corresponding posi- 
tion in Butte and Salt Pond Mountains. This is then over- 
laid in regular order by the Oneida, Medina, with the Clin- 
ton capping the summits of these last-named mountains ; ex- 
cepting some very large areas, which have also the interven- 
ing rocks up to the Oriskany, inclusive. In these last-named 
mountains, as will be observed in the section in Angel's 



140 GILES CO. — IRON ORES. 

Rest, the rocks dip gently toward the center of the moun- 
tain. 

Leaving these great mountains, going north there is a dis- 
location about the line of Wolf and Big Stony Creeks, and 
you then encounter the steeper dips on the south faces of 
Buckhorn, East River, and Peter's Mountains, and their 
flanking south-lying ridges. In these all the rocks from the 
Hamilton Black Slates to the Oneida, inclusive, are found, 
dipping southwardly at angles varying between 35° and 60°. 

The writer here, in closing the geological description of 
Giles, pays a justly deserved tribute to the fine discrimina- 
tion shown by Prof. Wm. B. Rogers while in charge of the 
geological survey of Virginia. All subsequent work has 
proven him correct to a degree surprising for the small 
amount of development at the time of his explorations. 

IRON ORES. 

The iron ores of Giles County may be divided into three 
general classes, as follows : The Semi-magnetic Red, the 
Fossil Red, and the Brown Ores or Limonites. The seini- 
magnetic red ores showing at Johnson's, Chapman's, and 
Pack's, on and near New River, occupy a position, as men- 
tioned above, nearly at the junction of the Calciferous and 
Trenton limestones, possibly just between the Black River 
and Trenton sub-epochs. At Johnson's, on the river, the 
deposit has been very well explored, and found to give a 
thickness there of over fifty feet in different seams. A few 
hundred yards up the river from this point the New River 
Railroad Company, with the diamond drill, has ascertained its 
continuity beyond conjecture, finding nearly 100 feet of ore 
in a little over 350 feet, some of the seams attaining a thick- 
ness of 18 feet. 

But the strata in which this ore is contained show very 
distinctly near Newport, at Payne's, twelve miles away from 



GILES CO.— IKON ORES. 141 

Johnson's and Chapman's, at Moser's, and at the mouth of Big 
Stony Creek ; then on the west side of the river, besides 
Pack's, at Dill's, Jordan's near Dill's, Wood's, Eaton's, near 
"Wabash Camp Ground. All these latter places occupy a 
position in the rim of a great basin, having its greatest de- 
pression near Johnson's or Chapman's Ferry. Again this 
same stratification shows along the south side of Wolf Creek, 
on the lower slopes of Wolf Creek Mountain, and around the 
northern base of Angel's Best Mountain, under which moun- 
tain the whole stratification lies in its original strength. It 
is a peculiar vein. Among its more noticeable peculiar- 
ities is its being cut out, now and then, by slaty material 
sometimes highly charged with iron ; that is, it is really 
replaced in the walls by slates, and sometimes by chert. 
The ore is usually, of slaty structure, of tabular form some- 
times, generally though lozenge or rhombus shaped. It 
may be submitted that, in the hearts of the hills and below 
water, the ore has not been replaced by any other material, 
and may there be regarded as much more regular and reli- 
able, as has been proven by the drill. It is true that this 
vein sometimes shows red and brown ores accompanying the 
more magnetic ; but this is only due, very probably, to local 
causes. The general stratification in which it occurs is 
marked above by felspathic chert 10 feet thick, which oc- 
cupies a position about 75 feet above. Below it occasional 
lumps of baryta are found. 

This remarkable stratification dips under Angel's Rest, 
Pearis's and Wolf Creek Mountains ; on the other side of the 
river it disappears under Butte and Salt Pond Mountains, 
while toward the south side of the county it goes under 
Buckeye and Spruce Bun Mountains. 

It may not be uninteresting to state that at Johnson's, 
below Chapman's Ferry, the exposures made show a section 
of the vein's area 220 feet by 170 feet by an average thick- 



142 GILES CO. — FOSSIL RED IRON ORE. 

ness of eleven feet. Taking the ore to weigh 280 pounds to 
the cubic foot, we have here, practically in sight, of this 
famous ore about 51,500 tons. The surface outcroppings, as 
described above, lead to the conclusion that there are many 
repetitions of the section showing at Johnson's, though at 
that point the trough of the basin is below water level. 
An analysis by Dr. F. A. Genth is as follows : 

Moisture 0.12 per cent. 

Silicic acid 1.83 

Titanic " none. 

Phosphoric acid none. 

Sulphuric " 0.05 per cent. 

Magnetic oxide of iron 71.36 " 

Ferric oxide 26.52 " 

Alumina ♦. trace. 

Magnesia 0.07 per cent. 

Lime 0.05 

100.00 

Metallic iron 70.238 per cent. 

(Signed) F. A. Genth. 

Fossil Bed Iron Ore. 

The Clinton or Dyestone series in which this ore is con- 
tained, together with the Medina, measures about 200 feet ; 
but the fine ore is never, in this county, over three feet thick. 

Pearis's Mountain, Wolf Creek Mountain, Flat Top, Sugar 
Run, East River, Buckhorn, and Buckeye Mountains, west of 
New River, and Peter's, Little, Butte, Salt Pond, Spruce 
Run, and John's Creek Mountains, east of New River, are its 
localities. It may be said to possess the same general char- 
acter 'all over the county where it is found. It has a fine 
development both in Flat Top, Buckhorn, and East River 



GILES CO. — FOSSIL RED IRON ORE. 143 

Mountains, in its walls of red sandstone, standing at right 
angles, and generally from 800 to 1,000 feet above water level 
at its outcrop. Its quantity, estimating the average thick- 
ness of the best ore at 18 inches, would be greater than that 
of all other ores combined in the county, from its great 
regularity and continuity. 

Some fragments of this ore found in the great mountain 
area west of the Angel's Rest are very beautiful as cabinet 
specimens ; frequently a perfect shell will be found petrified 
in specular ore of the brightest silvery luster. Generally 
the fossils are small, flattened, and lenticular shaped, mingled 
with small rounded pebbles. 

Two analyses, as rendered from fossil ores taken in East 
River and Flat Top Mountains, are as follows : 

East River Mountain Ore. 

Metallic iron 50.36 

(Signed) Prof. Fesquet. 

Flat Top Mountain Ore. (Fossil Bed.) 

Sesquioxide of iron 58.12 

Oxide of manganese 0.06 

Alumina 466 

Lime 0.20 

Magnesia 0.41 

Potassa and soda 0.40 

Silica 32.74 

Sulphuric acid 0.00 

Phosphoric acid 0.75 

Water, hygroscopic 0.60 

"Water, combined 0.96 

Organic matter. 0.84 

(Signed) H. Dickinson, 

Norivood, Mass. 



144 GILES CO. — BROWN IRON ORES. 

Brown Iron Ores. 

The quantity of Brown Iron Ore above water level in Giles 
County would be very difficult to approximate. That it is ex- 
ceedingly abundant no one would doubt who could see the 
great Chestnut Flat Deposits, the ore banks from which the 
John's Mountain Furnace, near Newport, derives its ores, as 
well as many other notable places in the county. The most 
conspicuous and valuable beds are found in the Oriskany 
rocks in Wolf Creek Mountain, East Kiver, Buckhorn, Pe- 
ter's, Flat Top, Sugar Kun, Buckeye, Butte, Salt Pond, 
John's Creek, and Spruce Bun Mountains, and their second- 
ary or derivative deposits on such creeks as Big Stony, etc. 

This ore constitutes about ten per cent, of the rocks com- 
posing the Oriskany measures, which are generally from thirty 
to sixty feet thick throughout the localities above named. 
The Chestnut Flat ore is really red when crushed. It is al- 
tered from a brown ore. This is amply proven by following 
the same measures a short distance either way, when the ore 
is found to resume its character as a brown ore. 

Chestnut Flat, with its fine showing of ore on the crest of 
"Wolf Creek Mountain, about three and a half miles, air line, 
southwest from the narrows of New Biver, is one of the most 
remarkable places in Virginia. This singularly fine ore is 
thrown up over a distance of about three hundred yards in an 
almost solid body, but extends less conspicuously many hun- 
dreds of feet further. 

It will probably yield 300,000 tons, just at this point, of an 
ore which analyzes as follows : 

Sesquioxide of iron 89.G5 = Metallic iron, 62.755. 

Oxide of manganese 0. 20 

Silica 2.58 

Alumina 1.11 

Lime 0.20 



GILES CO. — BROWN IRON ORES. 145 

Magnesia 0.15 

Sulphuric acid 0.37 

Phosphoric acid. . , 0.30 

Water, hygroscopic 1.25 

Water, combined 4. 10 

(Signed) H. Dickinson, 

Norwood, Mass. 

Following this same lead westwardly about one and a half 
miles, along the south face of Wolf Creek Mountain, looking 
down upon No Business Creek, another very extensive deposit 
is encountered, nearly if not quite as great in quantity as 
that at Chestnut Flat. 

This ore is a brown ore, giving the following analysis by 
the same chemist : 

Sesquioxide of iron 86.17 = Met. iron, 60.6G9. 

Oxide of manganese 07 

Alumina 69 

Lime 14 

Magnesia 06 

Silica 2.10 

Sulphuric acid 33 

Phosphoric acid 46 

Water, combined 8. 01 

Water, hygroscopic 1.10 

(Signed) H. Dickinson. 

Aga in, about three miles almost directly south of this, ores 
of the Oriskany show in the south face of Flat Top Mountain, 
overlooking Dismal Creek, being the same from which the 
Walker's Creek Forge once obtained its supplies of ores. 

This ore assays as follows : 

Sesquioxide of iron 80.17 = 56.119, Met iron. 

Protoxide of iron 57 

10 



146 GILES CO. — BROWN IRON ORES. 

Silica 5.13 

Alumina 2.04 

Lime 47 

Magnesia 14 

Oxide of manganese 90 

Sulphuric acid 02 

Phosphoric acid 84 

Water, hygroscopic 1.60 

Water, combined 7.94 

(Signed) H. Dickinson. 

Several other places on Dismal Creek give this ore in vast 
quantities, particularly toward the head of the creek, where 
the material has not been so abraded and carried away 
through the action of the elements. No doubt the most con- 
vincing argument respecting its quantity would be for the 
curious or the doubting to visit these beds. Exact measures 
are suj^erfluous where nature has been so lavish. 

Another prominent locality of this Oriskany ore is in the 
end of the south flank of Peter's Mountain, looking down upon 
the Narrows of New River. It is supposed by some experts 
that there are here about 100,000 tons of the ore practically 
in sight. Its analysis shows it high in metallic iron, and low 
in phosphorus. 

In Spruce Run Mountain, west of Newport, and in Buckeye 
Mountain, the solid ore is six feet thick, running for great dis- 
tances, that is, almost continuously'. Occasionally the ore is 
eight feet thick between walls of sandstone. 

At Dowdy's, Mill's, Keffer's, etc., you find the eastern pro- 
longation of the Spruce Run veins. These ores may be seen 
at the furnace, above Newport, on Sinking Creek. 

Again, brown ores show us probably the result of decom- 
posed pyrites in the edge of Wolf Creek, near Shumate's 
house and mill — vein perhaps five feet thick between ledges 



GILES CO. — MANGANESE. 147 

of limestone — at Bolton's, up Big Stony Creek, at points on 
Guinea Mountain, and numerous other places in Giles County, 
to which the above enumerated may be considered as merely 
introductory. 

MANGANESE. 

Manganese ores seem to be confined almost exclusively to 
the Oriskany measures. In fact, the iron ore of those rocks 
frequently gives way almost entirely to oxide of manganese. 

At one point in these rocks on Flat Top Mountain, near the 
line between Giles and Bland counties, the ore was found in 
great purity, giving the following measures, etc.: Trend north 
70° east, dip 60° north 20° west, containing valuable quanti- 
ties of manganese disseminated heavily through sandstone, 
five hundred yards in length, gradually becoming impregnated 
with iron as you approach the eastern end. The apparent 
width of the ore strata is here extraordinary, and may be 
owing to a duplication of strata from end pressure, or flexure, 
or a mere fold. It is 240 feet through. Elevation of outcrop 
above water level in Kimberling Creek is 1,200 feet ; vein 
would no doubt strip well. 

Analysis of manganese ore as follows : 

Analysis of Manganese Ore. 

Bed oxide of manganese 84.34 

Oxygen 3.73 

Protoxide of cobalt 68 

Alumina 1.80 

Lime 32 

Silica 21 

Baryta 7.21 

Water 1.71 

(Signed) H. Dickinson. 



148 GILES CO. — LEAD AND ZINC. 

(This analysis being made out by Mr. Dickinson in close 
technical form, gives 59.215 p. c. of metallic manganese, 23.53 
p. c. of combined oxygen, and 3.73 of oxygen recognized as 
otherwise disposed in the ore.) 

Some of these ores resemble closely the chalcophanite, so 
admirably investigated by E. S. Dana and by Dr. Brown of 
Liberty Street, New York. 

Again, manganese ore shows in beautiful crystals of pyro- 
lusite up Big Stony Creek, as common oxide in Buckeye and 
Spruce Bun Mountains, and at the ore beds above the furnace 
on Sinking Creek. It is not yet fully determined whether 
these ores will pay as shipping ores, either for quality or 
quantity. In the Salt Pond Mountain considerable masses 
and deposits have been found, that is, in the flanking ridges 
to the south. It is probable that the bright silvery luster 
sometimes characteristic of the ore has deceived some people 
into mining and shipping it, under the impression that they 
had good silver ore. Such is presumed to be the case with 
reference to ores shipped from near Salt Pond Mountain. 

COPPER. 

Copper has been detected in the pyrites of the Hamilton 
Black Slates, but in small quantities. 

LEAD AND ZINC. 

Both lead and zinc are occasionally met with in this 
county. The rocks of the Lower Helderberg group some- 
times give them in small quantities. These Helderberg rocks 
are usually in the form of very pure limestones, rarely ever 
more than 50 feet thick. Dismal Creek shows these rocks 
with lead in them. They may also be found at a few places 
on East Biver and Buckhorn Mountains, Big Stony Creek, 
and now and then in the Butte and Salt Pond Mountains. 



GILES CO. — LIMESTONE. 149 



SILVER. 

A trace of silver may now and then be found in the lead 
ores just described, but as to any paying quantity ever being 
discovered it is quite doubtful. 

LIMESTONE. 

Limestones abound in nearly all parts of the county, except 
in the higher mountains. They belong usually to the Lower 
Silurian or Cambrian Series. Only those few ledges above 
mentioned as containing the lead, which belong about the 
division between the Upper Silurian and Devonian Series, 
are out of the usual locality occupied by the great mass of 
limestones in the county. 

Along New Eiver, all the way through, except in the moun- 
tain canons, the limestone forms many towering and beautiful 
cliffs. 

An analysis of some of the Helderberg limestone, taken 
from Dismal Creek by Prof. Dickinson, is as follows : 

Lime 49.42 

Magnesia 2.04 

Protoxide of iron 1-53 

Oxide of manganese 15 

Alumina 48 

Silica 2.94 

Sulphuric acid 02 

Phosphoric acid 04 

Carbonic acid 42.00 

Water 60 

Organic matter 78 

There are a great many ledges of pure limestone in the 
county, making an excellent lime, while occasionally hydrau- 
lic limestone is met with. The first weathers blue, the latter 
light drab or earthy white. 



150 GILES CO. — TIMBER. 

MARBLE. 

There is a ledge of very compact limestone, about 30 feet 
thick apparently, at the junction of the Trenton and Hudson 
Rocks, very full of the remains of comminuted shells, etc., 
which may very well be considered a fine marble. In many 
places it resembles the Tennessee marble in appearance and 
texture. Its best development is probably in Eye Hollow on 
the south side. This locality is toward the south side of the 
county, west of the river. It shows also on the east side of 
the river, in the north of Spruce Run Mountain, low down, 
and at other places, including the north and south of Angel's 
Rest Mountain, Butte and Salt Pond Mountains. 

TIMBER. 

Timber is very plentiful in Giles County. Much of its 
area would yield largely for years to come in charcoal. 
There is white oak, chestnut oak, chestnut, black oak, 
hickory, sugar maple, locust, black pine, white pine, hem- 
lock or spruce pine, poplar, linn, buckeye, black walnut, 
dogwood and cedar, in the order of their respective quan- 
tities. 

Much of this timber is very fine for cabinet and ornamental 
purposes. Large areas of the mountain sides yield immensely 
in chestnut oak, from which tan bark could be obtained in 
such quantities as to make a paying industry, once the ques- 
tion of transportation is solved. 

In the valleys and among the strictly grass lands, nearly 
all the trees except the white and black pines, chestnut oak, 
hemlock, etc., abound. Some of the walnuts and sugar 
trees attain remarkable size and beauty. Many of these 
noble trees, which would bring a high price in the seaboard 
cities, have been burnt in log heaps, or have been used in 
making worm-fences. 



GILES CO. — AGRICULTURE. 151 

AGRICULTURE. 

It is difficult to do this subject justice in a few words, as 
far as it relates to this county. The sections of the county 
which are most favorable for farming are those which are 
also the best grass producing sections. While this is true of 
nearly the whole of Southwestern Virginia, in the limestone 
counties, it seems to be particularly so with regard to Giles. 
The great central basin on either side of New River, ten or 
twelve miles in average width, Upper Sinking Creek, Walker's 
Creek, Sugar Run, Wolf Creek, Stony Creek, Rye Hollow, etc., 
are dotted over with farms, even high up on the mountain 
sides. Many of these graze considerable herds of cattle, be- 
sides being in part devoted to cereal crops. Some of them 
are tobacco producing. The average capacity of corn land is 
30 bushels to the acre, while a crop here and there will go to 
60 bushels per acre. 

Wheat rarely exceeds an average of 20 bushels per acre, 
though it often goes to 30 bushels and sometimes higher. 
Rye is one of the important crops of the county. Oats 
do well, rarely ever failing in any season to make a good 
crop. Plaster or gypsum is the fertilizer most commonly 
used, and is reported to increase the yield on nearly all the 
lands of the county, especially where there are rocks contain- 
ing potash, soda, or lime. 

The sulphuric acid contained in the gypsum, when set free, 
seems to be an easy solvent for a great many of the rocks 
showing on the surface in Giles County. A good deal of this 
surface has the white flint, which contains potash and soda 
felspars derived from a vein of it about ten feet thick, which 
lies about 75 feet above the celebrated vein of iron ore. The 
dip of the rocks, as you approach the great basin of the 
county from any direction, is so gentle, that these rocks when 
found on the surface continue in sight for considerable dis- 



152 GILES CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS AND WATERING-PLACES. 

tances. Gypsum when sown where even a small percentage 
of this rock is on the surface, increases the yield of the lands 
surprisingly. This may be owing also, somewhat, to small 
percentages of phosphates set free by the action of different 
reagents resulting from the decomposition of the gypsum. It 
is a good thing that, not only here but in many other locali- 
ties, this cheap fertilizer, which abounds so plentifully in 
some of the counties of Southwest Virginia, should be so 
valuable and efficient. 

FRUITS. 

The apple seems to be the most successful and reliable of 
the fruit crops. It is an exception, rarely ever repeated twice 
in a century, that the apple crop fails. There are many im- 
proved kinds of apples in the county, the tree seeming to be 
long-lived and very fruitful. Peaches are very precarious. 
The trees seem to thrive well, but do not produce regularly. 
The pear and quince hit oftener. The cherry is a native, 
apparently, judging from its reliability and plentiful crop. 

GRAPES. 

This county has few but the native varieties, and they 
generally do very well annually. Not much attention, how- 
ever, is paid to their culture. 

BEE CULTURE 

is slowly gaining ground in the county, and when readier 
means of transportation are supplied much honey will no 
doubt be raised for market. 

MINERAL SPRINGS AND WATERLNG-PLACES. 

The mineral springs of this county are not so numerous as 
those of Montgomery ; but at the New River White Sulphur, 
the water is said to be a highly medicinal and curative agent. 



GILES CO. — SCENEEY. 153 

These springs are located on the east bank of New River, 
toward the south side of the county, about eleven or twelve 
miles north of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad 
(New River Station). They will be right on the line of the 
New River Railroad when that road is completed, and will 
then enjoy that popularity to which their fine location and 
the curative power of the water entitles them. 

Just here New River flows with a sweeping curve under 
one of its towering limestone cliffs, and, altogether, the sur- 
roundings go to make up one of those pictures of delightful 
mountain scenery which have as much influence in restoring 
the wasted energies of the human frame as any other cause. 

Mountain Lake is a celebrated watering-place on the top of 
Salt Pond Mountain. Its success as one of the most re- 
nowned and frequented places of the kind, depends only upon 
facilities to get there. Its chief attraction, besides the pure 
mountain air and water, is the mountain lake — a sheet of 
water about three-fourths of a mile in length by a less width. 
It has not been in existence much more than a century. 
Perhaps the early settlers in salting their stock in its basin 
caused such a trampling of cattle over the small vents in the 
bottom of the basin that they were closed, and the lake thus 
began to form. Not many years since the forest which grew 
over this ground was visible below the water. Some of the 
old trunks are said to be still in view, as the water is very 
clear. 

One of the features of that mountain after this, also, is to 
be the rearing of the Angora goat. A great many of them 
will soon be placed on these mountain sides, from which ample 
returns are expected in the wool they will produce. 

SCENEEY. 

If some patent right could be secured by which all classes 
of fine scenery could be adequately described in a few words, 



154 GILES CO. — SCENERY. 

no doubt any writer on Giles would eagerly avail himself of 
it : for no one can do justice to the subject here. 

Angel's Rest, seemingly the guardian of the beautiful wide- 
spread emerald plain below it, is fitly named. Its beauty, as 
it towers nearly 2,000 feet above the river below, and the fine 
air which pours fresh down from its beautiful sides, would 
seem to have the power to inspire any population living near 
it with noble and elevated thoughts and feelings. 

Some miles away, to the east, the Salt Pond and Butte 
Mountains seem like great counterparts of Angel's Rest, and 
lend an additional charm to the great scene in which New 
River forms a distinct feature as it winds its way between 
them. 

Often repeated along this river are high cliffs, such as those 
at the White Sulphur Springs, Clyburn's Ferry, Humj^hrey's 
or French's Cliff, and numerous others. Rising sometimes 
from 300 to 500 feet precipitously from the water, stained in 
many colors of drab and red, brown and black, they present 
a pleasing and attractive picture. There are pillars and 
towers and columns, frequently suggesting the idea of design. 
Nature has sculptured and decorated them in designs of more 
than mortal conception of the beautiful. 

Again, in the deep gorges of the high mountains, streams 
like Mill Creek have poured their never-failing crystal waters, 
unnoticed through time, over the high falls and cascades 
almost concealed in the wealth of luxuriant vegetation of the 
rich hollows. 

Mountain Lake needs no eulogy ! No description of it 
could be rose-colored, viewed in sunshine or in storm. The 
simple truth as to its history and natural beauty makes it 
appear the creation of the highest fancy. Left alone it must 
finally commend itself to any enlightened and appreciative 
people. 




FALLS AND CASCADES OP MILL CREEK, GILES CO., VA. 
(P. 154.) 



GILES CO. — MANUFACTURES. 155 

TRADE. 

The trade of Giles is chiefly in cattle, horses and mules, 
sheep, wool, wheat, corn, and tobacco. Of the former, there 
are about 3,500 annually shipped — much too small a number 
for so good a grass county. Of this number, perhaps one 
third goes to the English markets. Of sheep, there are 
probably not more than 1,800 shipped, owing to the de- 
struction occasioned by want of watchfulness on the part of 
owners. Of wool, there are about 10,000 pounds shipped 
annually ; a small proportion of the wool grown is carded and 
sjduu at home. 

Of wheat, there are 35,000 bushels now shipped. No 
doubt this quantity would be greatly increased with proper 
lines of transportation through the county. Of corn, there is 
but a small surplus shipped. 

Tobacco is getting to be quite a staple in the county. Its 
product last year amounted to nearly 350,000 pounds. The 
average price received was from seven to eight dollars per 
hundred pounds, the lands rarely averaging more than 750 
to 800 pounds per acre. Wolf Creek, and some points on 
lower Walker's Creek and New Eiver, east of Pearisburg, 
seem to be the more prominent tobacco localities. 

Any railroad line built through the county would soon 
cause an increase in the production of all staples. There is 
but little now to stimulate the population to raise more than 
will supply their wants and pay taxes. 

MANUFACTURES. 

There are no manufactures worthy of notice, beyond a few 
carding machines, though there is ample water-power on 
nearly all the streams to warrant extensive establishments.* 

* Under this head may be described " The Sinking Creek Furnace," two 
miles east of Newport, on Sinking Creek. This furnace dates back to '73. 
It has had the usual experience of furnaces located eighteen or twenty miles 



156 GILES CO. — TOWNS, ETC. 

SCHOOLS. 

There are two or more select schools in the county not 
connected with the public school system. The public schools 
have not given satisfaction in the last few years, but there 
seems now to be a chance that a better state of things will 
prevail in the future. 

FISH CULTUEE. 

The attempts which have been made to stock New River 
with improved fish will no doubt show favorably in that 
stream and tributaries in the next few years. The black 
bass, which are becoming so numerous in the county of 
Pulaski, in New River, will soon fill the streams of Giles 
County. 

TOWNS, ETC. 

Pearisburg, containing the court-house, is situated in the 
shadow almost of the beautiful Angel's Rest. It contains 
churches of different denominations, schools, hotels, stores, 
cabinet-making establishments, smiths' shops, etc., etc. 

Newport, toward the southeast side of the county, is a 
village pleasantly situated near the northern base of Gap 
Mountain. It has also schools, stores, and shops of different 
kinds. A town is springing up at the Narrows of New River 
on the north side of the county, destined to be a great 
manufacturing place in iron and steel when all the railroads 
are built which are now contemplated to pass through it. 

Staffordsville, Poplar Hill, and White Gate, on Walker's 
Creek, are notable places in the county. 

from railway transportation. This furnace, with proper care observed in 
selecting its fluxes, will have a good future before it. It can select its ores 
from semi-magnetic or brown ores, as it chooses, and ought to make eight 
tons daily of prime charcoal pig. It is now in blast, being run by Mr. Brown, 
the banker, of Baltimore. 



GILES CO. — TRANSPORTATION LINES. 157 

TRANSPORTATION LINES. 

New River is contemplated to be made navigable at some 
day by the United States Government, surveys having been 
made to ascertain practicability, cost, etc. Some appropri- 
ations have been made and work done on the river, but none 
in this county. 

The New Kiver Railroad Company, under charters from 
the States of Virginia and West Virginia, is now constructing 
a narrow-gauge railroad along the banks of New Kiver, in 
Giles — a road which will connect Hinton on the Chesapeake 
and Ohio Railroad with New River Station on the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. 

This road will be completed in two years, and will add 
much to the wealth of the county by the developments it will 
make of the vast iron deposits, the facilities it will afford, 
etc. 

The line of the Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio Railroad 
passes through the southern part of the county — a road 
which may be built in the next few years. 

The line of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad extension also 
passes through Giles, following the line of Big Stony and 
Wolf Creeks. 

The line of the Richmond and Southwestern Railroad passes 
also through the county from east to west, a narrow-gauge 
double -track road, leading from Richmond, Virginia, to 
Pound Gap in Kentucky, and on to the Mississippi River. 

The line of the extension of the Richmond and Alleghany 
Railroad, now being constructed up James River, if built, 
would pass through this county from east to west. 

The Pittsburgh Southern Railroad, now being built from 
Pittsburgh, Pa., southwardly, will, if extended into this region, 
pass through the county from north to south, following nearly 
the line of New River ; possibly passing out south westwardly 



158 BLAND CO. — HOW WATERED. 

through Shannon's Gap, and up Little "Walker's Creek, in the 
direction of the great Cranberry magnetic ore beds of North 
Carolina. 

BLAND COUNTY. 

This is essentially a mountain county in every sense, more 
than one half being mountainous. Though comparatively 
new, it has many points of interest, besides holding within its 
irregular surface many of the most valuable mineral deposits 
in this section. It is not without fine grass lands, fine 
streams, and splendid scenery. Its timber areas are highly 
valuable, and its mineral waters rank among the most effect- 
ive curative agents in the country. Its population is more 
than usually industrious and enterprising, and with the 
encouragement which increased facilities of transportation 
would give, its citizens would be among the most active in 
developing the fine resources of the county. And, what is 
not generally known, Bland holds at the south base of 
Brushy Mountain, a very respectable coal-field of its own. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Bland has for its northern boundary line, the crest of East 
River Mountain ; for a short distance is a border county, 
touching the county of Mercer, one of the most southern 
counties of West Virginia. It is bounded south by Wythe 
County and a part of Pulaski, east by Giles County, and west 
by Tazewell and Smyth Counties. The marked feature on its 
southern line is Walker's Mountain ; on its western and north- 
western, Garden and Round Mountains. 

HOW WATERED. 

Bland is finely watered by never-failing mountain streams 
of pure water, several of the prominent streams of the sec- 



BLAND CO. — GEOLOGY. 159 

tion taking their sourc3 in the county. Walker's Creek, 
which flows east into New River through Giles, rises in 
Bland and unites at Kimberling Church with Kimberling 
Creek, which has its source principally in Bland. The North 
Fork of Holston Paver rises near Sharon Springs and flows 
westwardly into Smyth County ; and Wolf Creek, which flows 
out of Burk's Garden — receiving one of its affluents, Hunting 
Camp Creek, wholly a Bland County stream, at the end of 
Bound Mountain — flows through Rocky Gap, where it unites 
the waters of Clear Fork and Laurel, on the northern side of 
the county, and enters New River near the Narrows in Giles 
County. 

GEOLOGY. 

The cross sections show Bland to differ somewhat from 
its neighbors in geological structure. Giles County would 
be very similar but for the coal measures of Bland, before 
alluded to. It has very much the same geology as Taze- 
well, except there is an apparent difference in the struc- 
ture of the coal measures, as well as in the number of 
faults creating mountain ranges. In the short space of 
ten miles across the trend, Bland has no less than six, and 
a part of the way, seven of the most considerable mountain 
ranges in the State. It is in the very heart of the line of the 
Alleghany range prolonged southwestwardly, and as to the 
whole Appalachian system, including the Blue Ridge, Alle- 
ghany, and Cumberland mountains, occupies a central position. 
Bland also occupies an elevated position, giving rise to the 
waters of the Holston, which flow westwardly toward Ten- 
nessee, and the tributaries of New River flowing in the oppo- 
site direction. 

The general elevation of the valleys is from 2,500 to 2,800 
feet above sea level, while some of its mountains attain a 
height of 4,400 feet above the ocean. 



160 BLAND CO. — GEOLOGY. 

A part of the southern border of the county overlapping 
Walker's Mountain and taking in a portion of Little Walker's 
Mountain's northern slope, it would be proper to say that the 
southern end of the cross section begins about the Catskill 
sandstone, which generally is about the central ledge of Lit- 
tle Walker's Mountain. Thence going north you pass over 
the upturned edges of the underlying Chemung, or Old Ked 
Sandstone series, dipping 40° southwardly ; then the Hamil- 
ton slates and sandstone, generally thin bedded ; then the 
Marcellus black slates with occasional crystals of lead and 
copjDer, and sometimes so highly bituminous as to yield 
nearly two inches of impure coal ; then still to the north, 
with about the same dip (40°) we reach the rocks in the 
southern slopes of Walker's Mountain : first the Upper Hel- 
derberg about 40 feet of a flint ledge, sometimes giving a 
silicious iron ore, and again lead and zinc sulphide in small 
quantities ; then the Oriskany sandstone, sometimes 60 feet 
thick, with 15 feet of its lower part so heavily charged with 
iron and manganese, as to be a valuable ore bearing series ; 
then the Lower Helderberg, which is sometimes so thin as 
not to be noticed, while occasionally it assumes a thickness of 
8 or 10 feet of limestone, more or less charged with lead sul- 
phide. Then next to this north is a band of undetermined gray 
sandstones of about 350 feet ; then the Clinton with 16 inches 
of fossil ore ; then the Medina with its mottled sandstone 
and heavy ledges of ironstone, perhaps 50 feet thick ; then 
about the heart of Walker's Mountain outcropping at its 
crest, is the Oneida sandstone not more than 40 feet thick ; 
then, as you descend the northern slope, the calcareous sand- 
stones and limes at the upper part of the Hudson River 
group ; then the main body of the Hudson River 650 feet 
thick ; then near the northern base, the Trenton limestones, 
not more than 300 feet thick along here, with their base 
marked by the felspathic flint measure, which seems to divide 



BLAND CO. — GEOLOGY. 161 

it from the Upper Calciferous limestones ; then the Upper 
Calciferous, with some ledges not more than 50 feet below 
the flint measures, marked by very flattering quantities of lead 
and zinc sulphides ; then the next limes of the Calciferous ; but 
a short distance leads us to a fault which brings us suddenly 
against the rocks of the Proto-carboniferous, holding several 
veins of coal, in the south spur of Brushy Mountain — one of 
the veins measuring 8 feet, with varying dips between nearly 
flat and nearly perpendicular, having a trend, like all these 
rocks, about north 70° east. Then after this, going north over 
400 or 500 feet of thin slates and sandstones, some of which 
are conglomerate, we are again at the Catskill sandstones, 
occupying the heart of Brushy Mountain ; thence down its 
northern slope, through Chemung and Hamilton to the Mar- 
cellus, in the eastern prolongation of Poor Valley. Again 
here, at the foot of Bound Mountain, on the south side, which 
is a continuation east of Garden Mountain, are signs of lead 
in the slate ; then passing up on to Round Mountain, over 
the Upper Helderberg flints, we are again soon in the Oris- 
kany sandstone, which yields occasionally, along this moun- 
tain, a splendid deposit of iron ore of the character of that at 
Chestnut Flat in Giles County, and sometimes a fine oxide of 
manganese ; next to this are the Lower Helderberg limes, 
sometimes 75 feet thick, as in Garden Mountain, Round 
Mountain, and Flat Top Mountain ; then, in a few hundred 
feet more, up Round Mountain, we again encounter the fossil 
red ore about two feet thick, and then on the broad crest of 
the mountain, the Oneida sandstone, assuming a rather anti- 
clinal dip ; then, as we descend on the northern side, a partial 
repetition of the rocks on the southern side, dipping north- 
wardly instead of southwardly as before. Round Mountain 
has a trend northeast, but as you approach Rocky Gap, it 
subsides and rises again in the Flat Top Mountain in the 

eastern side of the county, next to Giles — the intervening 
11 



162 BLAND CO. — IKON ORES. 

space being mostly marked by Devonian rocks characteristic 
of Brushy Mountain. 

Then, pursuing the cross section line still north, we en- 
counter an irregular synclinal fold at Wolf Creek, with the 
Marcellus slates, etc., very visible ; going up Eich Mountain 
side, on the south, we have a repetition of the south side of 
Round Mountain ; thence down its north side to Clear Fork, 
where we meet with a fault bringing the Trenton limestones 
into contact with Upper Silurian rocks, composing Buckhorn 
Mountain ; thence we pass on into East River Mountain, 
showing a repetition of the south of Round Mountain again. 

IRON ORES. 

The brown ores which Bland County would yield under 
the stimulus of cheap transportation, would be enormous in 
quantity, and many of them of a highly superior quality. The 
Oriskany measures on the south of Big Walker's Mountain, 
occasionally along its length in Bland, yield good brown ores 
in beds not over ten feet thick ; but the greater and more 
available masses of brown ores, toward the southern limit of 
the county, are in the Walker's Creek valley, about New- 
berry's and the line of the north side of Walker's Creek. 
These ores are due to the decomposition of pyritous veins 
near the felspathic flint, belonging about the junction of the 
Calciferous and Trenton limestones. It would be difficult to 
tell the number and thickness of these veins, as there are 
yet no developments of any consequence. Judging from the 
quantities on the surface in different places, they must be of 
good size, though no doubt variable in thickness. This se- 
ries gives often, in different parts of the county, a semi-mag- 
netic red ore, as well as true specular, together with the 
brown ore, being in the same zone identically with the great 
Giles County basin. 

Brown ores occur in the coal rocks, but not in very large 



BLAND CO. — IRON ORES. 163 

quantities. The next great deposits of brown ores of any 
consequence are those in, and resulting from, the decompo- 
sition of the Oriskany measures in Garden Mountain, Round 
Mountain, Rich Mountain, Flat Top, and East River, and 
Buckhorn mountains. It has already been said that Round 
Mountain has an ore, on its south side, similar to that of 
Chestnut Flat in Giles. It may be as well to add that this 
particular ore bed in Round Mountain is near Kidd's Hunt- 
ing Camp, 559 feet above water level, and is only second in 
size and importance to that of Chestnut Flat itself. It has 
about the following composition : 

Sesquioxide of iron 90.000 = 63 p. c. metallic iron. 

Silica 2 500 

Sulphuric acid 0.350 

Phosphoric acid 0.280 

This ore is regarded by experts as one of the best ores in 
Virginia. While it is classed with the brown ores, since it 
is found in the Oriskany measures, it really gives a blood- 
red when crushed, and has more the appearance of specular 
than the Chestnut Flat ore. 

Brown ores are found in the Upper Helderberg series, 
mixed with a red ore in a vein about five feet thick, in Gar- 
den Mountain, Round, Rich, East River, and Flat Top moun- 
tains. The measure, though distinct at many points, is how- 
ever obscure at others. 

Brown ores again occur on Clear Fork, principally on the 
Buckhorn Mountain side of the stream, in flattering quanti- 
ties, and of a quality superior for its easily fusible qualities, 
and general freedom from impurities. 

Red Ores. 

The two red ores of greatest quantity are the fossil red — 
in the larger mountains — and the fine specular which shows 



164 BLAND CO. — MANGANESE. 

now and then in the felspathic flint measures above men- 
tioned, as in the hills toward Tillson's Mill, in the west end 
of the county, and other points along that range, north bank 
of Walker's Creek. 

The fossil red is generally in one vein on the southern ex- 
posures, from sixteen inches to two feet thick, and would 
yield for the whole county an unlimited tonnage. Walker's 
Mountain, Round, Garden, Flat Top, Wolf Creek, Rich, and 
East River mountains show the ore very distinctly, and it is 
generally continuous. Some good judges, such as Professor 
Lesley, think it rather silicious, but it may be submitted that 
as an ore to mix with the other abundant ores of the county, 
it will serve a fine purpose. 

The specular, or semi-magnetic red, of the Giles County 
basin prolonged, is found near the felspathic flint in quanti- 
ties, now and then, to be of great value ; its great purity 
and high percentage of metallic iron make it a very valuable 
adjunct to the other ore deposits of the county. 

Chromic ore has been reported from this county, but it is 
questionable whether a ton of it will ever be found. 

MANGANESE. 

Ores of manganese are very abundant in this county. 
Round Mountain — in the Oriskany measures — Flat Top, Gar- 
den, East River, and Rich mountains show veins of it some- 
times over ten feet thick. Very frequently it is a very pure 
binoxide. A little further exploration and development must 
show it in such quantity as to make it quite an item of trans- 
portation. 

It is scarcely necessary to give its analysis here. The 
mass of it is not binoxide, but there is a great deal of it in 
pure crystalline form, and would give the standard analysis 
for pure ore whenever assayed. 



BLAND CO. — LEAD AND ZINC. 165 



COAL. 



The coal of Bland, of any value, is in one vein, lying at the 
south foot of Brushy Mountain, and extending from the west 
end of the county to a point a few miles east of Seddon, 
where the coal measures have been uplifted and denuded. 

This vein, owing to the disturbance of the whole formation, 
is occasionally ten feet thick — as near Sharon, for instance — 
but its general measure is 6 feet for the greater part of the 
distance, and sometimes not over 3| feet. It yields, for parts 
of its length, a very firm bituminous coal ; again, it gives a 
crushed article ; but much of it is really valuable, though the 
dip is variable, between nearly vertical and horizontal. It 
may be said to measure from the outcrop down to the line of 
fault, or where it is cut off by limestone, over a half mile. 



LEAD AND ZINC. 

Lead and zinc are found in the most flattering quantities 
at several points, in a measure which underlies the felspathic 
flint lead ; occurring all the way from Smyth County to the 
Giles County line ; but on the turnpike 5 miles east of Sharon 
it shows more conspicuously than anywhere. The dolomite 
here dipping, first gently, then steeply to the south, has good 
lead and zinc sulphides shot through it in masses which 
sometimes weigh ten or twelve pounds ; but as to whether it 
is there in a large and compact vein can only be determined by 
further development. It has a very flattering appearance on 
the outside ; and some of the ores, both of lead and decom- 
posed zinc, are of a very high percentage of purity. Again, 
in the Water Lime groups of the Lower Helderberg rocks, in 
Garden Mountain, as well as Flat Top Mountain on Dismal 
Creek, lead and zinc occur as very interesting constituents 
of the rocks. 



166 BLAND CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS. 

BARYTES. 

Barytes is now and then found near the felspathic flint 
lead also. 

Copper is found in the Marcellus shales on either side of 
Hound Mountain, but scarcely sufficient to pay for working. 

Salt should naturally exist in the rocks of X. and XII., so 
abundant in Brushy Mountain. 

Petroleum. — Though the petroleum rocks of Bland may be 
barren of oil, they are quite easily distinguished at the north 
base of Brushy Mountain. In the Kimberling district, about 
and below Kimberling Springs, there is a very large basin of 
converging dips, where the rocks ought naturally to form a 
reservoir for the oil drainage. This section is underlaid with 
the oil series at only a few hundred feet depth ; and is really 
the only apparent oil basin outside of the coal measures, 
belonging strictly to the great Kanawha coal basin in this 
section. 

BUILDING STONES. 

The principal building stones are found among the lime- 
stones ; also in the flags in large measures of thin-bedded 
sandstones of the Devonian rocks, underlying and north of 
the coal veins. 

MINERAL SPRLNGS. 

Sharon Alum and Chalybeate Springs are situated on the 
turnpike leading from Wytheville to Tazewell, about 18 miles 
from the former, toward the western portion of the county. 
These springs, being arranged for the accommodation of nu- 
merous visitors, are justly regarded as among the most pleasant 
watering-places in the mountains. The elevation here is 
about 2,800 feet above the sea, and the fine water, combined 
with the pure air and healthy diet, make it an agreeable place 
to every one who visits these springs. 



BLAND CO. — WATER POWER. 167 

Kimberling Springs, in the central portion of the county, 
are noted for the wild and picturesque scenery surrounding 
them, the highly curative power of the sulphur water, and 
the invigorating influence of the fine air. These springs 
boast four different springs, one of which is an Alum Chaly- 
beate. They are situated 28 miles north from Wytheville, 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad. 



TIMBER. 

All of the timber enumerated for the other counties of South- 
western Virginia are represented in Bland County, except the 
balsam fir tree. There are large quantities of white pine 
in the Brushy Mountain, Hunting Camp Creek and Kimber- 
ling, toward the heads of its tributaries. White oak is abun- 
dant in nearly all sections of the county; large bodies of 
chestnut oak and chestnut. Walnut is common in the 
Walker's Creek and Holston Valleys and the Clear Fork 
Valley. Poplar is not now so plentiful as formerly; but 
deficiencies in other woods are made up by the quantity of 
white oak stave timber remaining in the Hunting Camp, 
Lick Creek, Kimberling County and other districts, and the 
great quantity of chestnut oak good for tan bark. There is 
also a great deal of hickory and the white woods, such as 
white walnut, cucumber, linn, buckeye, wahoo, and some 
ash, locust, and spruce pine. 

WATER POWERS. 

* 

Numerous water powers are easily obtainable on Walker's 
Creek, Holston River, Wolf Creek, Clear Fork, Hunting Camp 
and Kimberling. These streams fall generally about 25 feet 
per mile, and will give powers requiring any measurement 
from 80 cubic feet per second down to 10 feet per second. 



168 ■ BLAND CO. — SCENERY. 



MANUFACTURES." 



The people of this county with fairer opportunities would 
be decidedly a manufacturing population. To the extent of 
their ability, they are now very much disposed to combine 
for the purpose of erecting woolen mills and other factories. 

There is now a good carding machine and woolen mill in 
the vicinity of Mechanicsburg, and others perhaps contem- 
plated in the county. There are numerous good saw and 
grist mills in the county. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The grass fields of Walker's Creek and Holston Valley 
graze a great many cattle, sheep, etc., annually, and farming 
is carried on all over the county as extensively as the 
mountainous nature of the country will permit. Clear Fork, 
Wolf Creek, Hunting Camp, and Kimberling, also have good 
farming areas ; and there are many good farms still in the 
forest uncleared. Sheep raising would be very profitable on 
a large scale in Bland ; and for the Angora goat, no doubt it 
would be excellent. 

SCENERY. 

The scenery in Bland is in some parts imposing, on 
account of the greater field of view being taken up by moun- 
tains ; but there are many choice views in the county. 
Frequently, a most lovely and romantic view will break upon 
the tourist or traveler in riding along the roads, which now 
and then lead through the mountain gorges, usually flanked 
on one side by a stream pouring over waterfalls and cascades, 
both road and stream fringed with rhododendrons, azaleas, 
and flowering shrubs, towering above which are apt to be 
thick spruce pines with their thick and dark foliage. 

All the fruits of this latitude are apparently at home in 
Bland, the peach only being somewhat irregular in bearing. 



BLAND CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 169 

Grapes are recognized as being peculiarly adapted to Bland ; 
and on Wolf Creek, on the north, side of Bound Mountain, a 
good deal of wine is made annually from the native varieties. 
The White Muscadine is one of the varieties native to Bland, 
and is said to be a well-flavored grape. Bees do well in 
Bland, where there are so many flowering shrubs and trees. 

TRADE IN CATTLE, SHEEP, WOOL, WHEAT, AND CORN. 

Bland annually sends oil : Cattle 2,850 head. 

" " " Sheep 4,000 " 

" " " " Wool, 11,000 pounds. 

" Wheat 2,800 bushels. 

Corn. No attempt is made to raise corn for market, 
though a few hundred bushels are sometimes sold out of the 
county. 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

The lines of railway bidding fairest to be built at an early 
day through Bland, are the Richmond and Southwestern 
Railway and the Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio Railway. 
Either of these roads would very fully develop the fine 
resources of the county. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Seddon, the county site, is a place of 300 inhabitants, near- 
ly at the middle of the county, east and west ; having besides 
the court house and the public records, good hotels, stores, 
churches, cabinet and smith shops, and an enterprising and 
progressive newspaper, called " The South and West.''' 

Mechanicsburg is somewhat smaller, in the southeastern 
part of the county, near Walker's Creek and Kimberling 
Church, with stores, etc. 

Rocky Gap will one day be a manufacturing place, with its 



170 TAZEWELL COUNTY. 

fine water power, besides the gateway of great lines of rail- 
way. 

Sharon lias been mentioned in connection with Sharon 
Springs. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The public schools of Bland are now, like the other public 
schools of this section, improving. 



TAZEWELL COUNTY. 

Of all the counties in Virginia, which may have justly 
merited the praise bestowed upon them, none could receive 
all the adulation which the utmost ingenuity could devise, 
and still merit more, unless it were Tazewell County. 

It looks as though some special attempt was being made to 
give a rose coloring to all the subjects treated in this volume, 
judging from the descriptions as they read ; but let the reader 
once investigate for himself, and he will then see that the 
powers of description and illustration are tame by the side 
of the subjects treated. 

Tazewell County, if in Europe, would be an empire within 
itself. Its territory is considerable, being forty miles in 
length by eighteen miles in width ; and, within that area, holds 
a wealth of blue grass lands which are the admiration of all 
who see them, both for their fertility and wide extent ; 
splendid coal veins, lying well for mining ; iron ore deposits, 
rich and extensive ; matchless mineral waters, and forests of 
timber rarely, if ever, surpassed anywhere. Some attempt 
will be made to describe its scenery further on ; but to do so 
will be an ignominious failure ; for what pen could possibly 
describe Burk's Garden and surroundings ; or, the view from 
Dial Eock ; or, for the matter of that, the Cove and the grand 
country about Liberty and Maiden Spring ; or, the mouth of 



TAZEWELL CO. — HOW WATERED. 171 

Indian, the river country, Bluestone and Wright's Valley? 
The day will surely come, when an appreciative traveling 
public will throng this county ! Its citizens, who have been 
reared in the county and have become used to its every 
feature, are its enthusiastic admirers. They would not 
leave it hardly for any other spot on earth, so fully are they 
imbued with its loveliness, its fine water, pure air, and a noble 
future, heavy with the promise of a fine destiny soon to be 
fulfilled. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Tazewell is one of the border counties, being bounded on 
the north by the county of McDowell in the State of West 
Virginia ; east by the county of Mercer, West Virginia ; 
southeast by Bland County, Virginia ; south by Smyth 
County, Virginia, and west by Russell County. The northern 
boundary line follows generally the crest of Sandy Ridge, 
which, toward the northeast, takes the name of Great Flat Top 
Mountain ; south, the great Clinch Range marks the boun- 
dary until you reach the east side of Burk's Garden, when 
it deflects to the northeast, crossing the Rich Mountain, and 
strikes East River Mountain near Nye's Cove ; whence the 
line continues on the crest of the last-named mountain, east- 
wardly, to the State line. 

HOW WATERED. 

The greater part of the county is watered by Clinch River 
and its tributaries flowing south westwardly. Bluestone River, 
East River, and Wolf Creek, with some of its tributaries, rise 
in the eastern portion of the county and flow eastwardly into 
New River. By this it is understood that Clinch River and 
some of the tributaries of New River have their source in this 
county, at a general elevation of about 2,900 feet above sea 



172 TAZEWELL CO. — IRON ORES. 

level. The whole county is well watered. Many of the 
springs send forth such a large supply of water .as to be 
capable of running a grist-mill within a few hundred yards of 
their source. 

GEOLOGY. 

The geology, like that of Russell, is comprised between 
the rocks of the Lower Silurian and Carboniferous periods, 
including some of the Calciferous limestones below and a 
great part of the coal measures above. 

Beginning on the south, in Clinch Mountain, Garden 
Mountain, Rich Mountain, and East River Mountain, you 
encounter the series holding the dyestone group, the Oris- 
kany, etc., dipping southwardly, at angles rarely ever ex- 
ceeding thirty-two degrees. Thence, going north, you see 
next, on the north of these mountains, the variously colored 
limes of the Hudson epoch ; after which on the surface, still 
generally dipping south, the Trenton limestones ; and then, 
near the line of Clinch River, the Calciferous limestones, a 
short distance north of which is the great fault that brings 
these lower rocks up into contact with the coal measures ; 
thence, northwardly, for an average width of three miles, on 
the north side of the county, the coal and associated sand- 
rocks, slates, etc., form the chief feature. The accompany- 
ing cross section will present more graphically than it can 
be written the order of position of the different strata, and 
will serve, with but little variation, for almost any part of 
the county east or west. In the description of the different 
ores, etc., this cross section will be more fully explained. 

IRON ORES. 

To use an old comparison, it would be very much like the 
play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out, to attempt a description 



TAZEWELL COUNTY. 



173 



y 



$ 



SandyTtl 



Clinch River 



Kent's Ridge 



Deskins Mtn. 



hfaint Lick Mtn, 






©■ 



F 



Rich Mi 



s Cli> eh W. 



^Bear Town. 



-*?- 



Gar den M. 




174 TAZEWELL CO. — IRON ORES. 

of Tazewell with the iron ores left out. The county will 
always be famous for its incomparable grass lands ; but, when 
any line of transportation shall have been constructed com- 
petent to bring the ores and coal of Tazewell into communi- 
cation with each other and with the other vast beds of ore in 
the country, it will then be seen that the iron ores are quite 
capable of performing the great task of bringing as much 
money into the county as the grass lands now do ; and more, 
of helping other mining enterprises to stimulate farming and 
grazing to a much higher level of productiveness and profit 
to individuals and the county at large. It would be difficult 
to estimate the quantity of brown ores capable of being 
mined in the line of Kent's Ridge, Baptist Valley Eidge, 
Whitely's Eidge, and Taylor's Eidge, to say nothing of the 
admirable ores of Nye's Cove, Clear Fork, and other places. 
But to begin on the south side of the county, taking the 
various lines of deposits of brown ores, seriatim, through to 
the north side, will, perhaps, make the matter clearer. The 
first brown ores on the south side of consequence are those 
accompanied with manganese, which the Oriskany measures 
yield, on the south side of Clinch Mountain, bordering Poor 
Yalley on the north, and lying in this county along where 
the four foot road to Marion crosses ; thence east toward Bear 
Town. These measures will yield disconnected measures of a 
brown iron ore of high grade in masses sometimes fifteen feet 
thick by variable lengths, rarely ever exceeding 300 yards 
at one point ; in this, following the habit of the Oriskany 
measures throughout this region. Then again, in the Upper 
Helderberg group, next overlying the Oriskany, a brown and 
red hematite, somewhat silicious, is found in a rather regular 
measure, about five feet thick, and continuous for consider- 
able distances. This ore is usually very compact and hard, 
and is quite a new feature in the reading of the geology of 
this section, being the first time it has ever been brought 



TAZEWELL CO. — IKON OEES. 175 

before the public that this particular line of rocks is an iron- 
bearing formation. It is unfortunate that these ores are cut 
off from direct communication with the other ore beds of 
Tazewell by the Clinch and Garden Mountains intervening. 

Both these lines of ores show their outcrops at an eleva- 
tion generally of about 150 feet above the level of water in 
the small creeks near by. 

In the south of Rich Mountain brown ores must show 
again in respectable bodies, derived from the same system of 
rocks. Near the junction of Cove Creek with Clear Fork, at 
the southeastern corner of the county, there are very fine, 
easily reducible brown ores in deposits resulting from the 
decomposition of the Oriskany iron stone in Buckhorn Moun- 
tain. Then up this Cove Creek, in Nye's Cove, very large 
boulders of this soft brown ore are scattered over the sur- 
face, to the left of the mouth of the cove as you enter. In 
this cove, to the right of its mouth, is Iron Ridge, an eleva- 
tion of about 350 feet average, so named from the large 
quantity of brown ore showing on it. Then again on the 
spurs of Buckhorn and East River, in this cove, are other 
large bodies of brown ore. It may be submitted that fully 
100,000 tons could be easily and cheaply obtained here at 
small cost for mining, without going to any appreciable depth 
after it. 

At other points along Buckhorn and East River Mountains, 
west of Nye's Cove, the Oriskany and Helderberg series are 
the parent iron stores from which are derived bodies of ex- 
cellent ore. The south spurs of Paint Lick Mountain like- 
wise show deposits of brown ore, but generally mixed with 
red ore, due to the decomposition of the dyestone series, 
which occupies a great part of the crest of the mountain. 

The next line of brown ore of consequence is found in the 
well-marked felspathic flint lead which outcrops in a line 
generally parallel with, and close to, Clinch River, known as 



176 TAZEWELL CO. — BED IEON ORES. 

the ores of Kent's Kidge, Whitely's Eidge, Taylor's Eidge, 
and "Wright's Valley Eidge. All of these ridges are in a gen- 
eral line toward the north side of the county, a mile or so 
south of the great fault on the border of the coal measures ; 
Kent's Eidge lying westwardly, and Whitely's and Taylor's 
Eidges being toward the eastern end of the county. Eleva- 
tion about 300 feet. 

This series of rocks lies about the junction of the Black 
Eiver and Trenton limes, and, in all probability, marks the 
closing of one epoch and the beginning of the other. The 
ore vein is composed of brown iron ore with oxide of man- 
ganese, in the proportion of about three of the former to two 
of the latter. At a few points here and there, both in Taze- 
well and Eussell Counties, the ores of these ridges have 
been used with satisfaction in several forges now out of 
blast. 

After this, going north, near the Mouth of Indian, and at 
other jDoints along the margin of the coal fields, there are 
brown ores showing in considerable quantities, which may be 
ascribed to the decomposition of carbonates. It is to be re- 
gretted that so few developments of all these ore deposits 
should have been made ; sufficient evidence is given by the 
quantities exposed on the surface to prove that the vast 
amount of material which has decomposed in past ages has 
left behind immense beds of ore, besides what still remains in 
the original veins below the zone of decomposition. 

Bed Iron Ores. 

As before stated there is red ore in the Upper Helderberg 
flint groups on the south of Clinch Mountain. Higher up on 
this mountain, on the south, is the band in dyestone red 
iron ore in the Clinton group, about eighteen inches or two 
feet thick, generally a silicious ore, but valuable as a mixing 



TAZEWELL CO. — IRON PYRITES. 177 

ore. This vein is generally continuous in this part of the 
mountain, and is about 800 feet above water at its outcrop. 
Further east, in Rich Mountain, in Buckhorn and East River 
Mountains, particularly about Nye's Cove, the dyestone 
group shows in large sections and fragments. 

In Paint Lick Mountain, about its crest, it constitutes the 
covering of the great cliff-like wall of Oneida sandstone, 
which runs for seven or eight miles along near the top of this 
mountain, separated from it by sixty feet of intervening 
Medina sandstone and a few ledges of Clinton Red sand- 
stone. The vein here is sixteen inches thick, and is only the 
lower of the dyestone veins. Its value will be chiefly as an 
ore to mix with other ores. Its quantity may be taken at an 
average width of 200 feet by about five miles, as it does not 
form a continuous belt, but is sometimes entirely denuded. 
It may be regarded as the parent of much of the ore appear- 
ing in the deposits in the valleys below. 

North of this line there are no appreciable quantities of 
red ore in the county, except that occasionally the ores in 
the felspathic flint, above-mentioned, sometimes assume the 
form of a fine specular ore. 

Iron Pyrites. 

It is not yet determined that the source of the brown ores 
in the Oriskany Rocks is pyrites, but it may be assumed that 
such is the case with ore in the Upper Helderberg rocks. In 
the line of the ores in the felspathic flint — mentioned as being 
about the division between the Calciferous and Trenton 
limestones, there are, no doubt, below water level, very con- 
siderable quantities of pyrites. In the coal measures there 
are occasional pieces found, not generally of large size. 

In the eastern part of the county, near the Mercer bound- 
ary line, there are ores reported of a slaty structure. 
12 



178 TAZEWELL CO. — COAL. 

MANGANESE. 

Manganese is very generally distributed through the 
county. There are some beautiful fragments of binoxide 
occasionally found, as in Whitely's Ridge, Taylor's Ridge, 
Kent's Ridge, Clinch Mountain, Nye's Cove, Buckhorn, Yosts, 
etc. ; but no developments of it have as yet been made to an 
extent sufficient to give a very fair idea of quantity. Judging 
from surface indications there must be a great deal of it. 

COAL. 

The examinations made of the coal veins of Tazewell, on 
Middle Creek, Horse Pen Cove, and Abb's Valley, very fully 
and amply sustain all the declarations made by Peop. J. P. 
Lesley and others as to the size of the veins, the quantity 
they will yield, and general commercial importance. In fact, 
it may safely be insisted upon that these veins are among the 
most valuable of their kind in the great basin to which they 
belong ; not only on account of the thickness of some of 
them, but the cheapness with which they can be mined and 
utilized, once the question of transportation is settled. 

Beginning with Middle Creek, an affluent of Clinch River, 
just below the mouth of Indian Creek, it is there that some 
of the most reliable readings can be obtained, both as to 
that broad fragment of the measures inclining at an angle of 
39° southwardly, and the area close at hand, to the north, 
giving the almost horizontal measures ; the last continuing, 
with no great observable interruption, to the Ohio River. 

Going from the mouth of the creek up about one and three 
quarter miles, over a fragment of Devonian rocks brought up 
by the thrust of Calciferous limestones against that side of the 
great fault, and over the limestones upon which this fragment 
rides, you encounter the sandstones and slates of what are 
presumably the Sub-Carboniferous measures, holding eight or 



TAZEWELL CO. — COAL. 179 

nine veins of coal of different dimensions, generally dipping 
39° south 20° east. 

The first seven encountered have not yet been opened ; 1 tut 
the eighth, being a large vein of good bituminous coal, very 
suitable for use in smith shops, has been mined. This vein 
lies between head and foot-walls of slate, with 50 inches of 
good coal next head-wall, then 12 inches of slate with 
9 inches of coal next foot-wall ; under this 15 feet of slate ; 
then 54 inches of coal, of same dip, underlaid with slate ; 
then, at about two and a half miles in an air line from the 
mouth of the creek, the horizontal measures set in which 
continue on for many miles. 

These veins, to which the one measured belongs, may be 
said to continue for a great many miles in either direction. 
In this immediate vicinity they will give an average breast- 
ing, at a dip of 39", of about 380 feet on the incline above the 
creeks, which cut through them about every two and a half 
miles. It is so easy for any one to calculate from this data 
the probable yield of this one vein above water, that it is 
needless to give it here. In the horizontal measures, this 
part of the county shows one vein about 80 feet below the 
crest of Sandy Ridge, which measures 4 feet clear coal, and 
without doubt contains a half-dozen other good workable 
veins, although there are no developments as yet. 

Horse Pen Cove, situated about eight miles northwardly 
from Jeffersonville, the county site, is reported to contain 
not only an 8-feet vein of good bituminous coal, but cannel 
coal, as well as at Middle Creek. The cannel coal, though 
good, has not been found in a vein over 3 feet thick. 

Abb's Valley presents no inclined dips of any consequence 
in the coal measures. They are almost without exception 
nearly flat. Near Smith's Store 4 feet veins are found close 
to the limestone of the valley. At the lower end of the val- 
ley, near the boundary line of the county on the northeast 



180 TAZEWELL CO. — LEAD AND ZINC. 

side, a remarkable vein of good bituminous coal, 11 feet 
thick, with a parting of slate, 1 foot, is easily accessible. 
This vein seems to lie at the base of the series just here, and 
is supposed to be the same one which shows near water level 
on Dump's Creek, in Russell County, there recorded 9 feet 
4 inches. 

Enough has been said to show that great quantities of coal 
and iron exist in Tazewell. Forty miles length of each, by 
variable thicknesses and widths, will present to the mind of 
the reader an idea of vastness, without the necessity to go 
into minute calculations to prove the assertion that the 
county will one day be as much noted for its mining and 
manufacturing, as it is now for its incomparable grass fields. 



LEAD AND ZINC. 

Small pieces of lead and zinc ores are occasionally found 
in the Kent's Ridge line of iron and manganese measures, 
and near the end of Taylor's Ridge, in the eastern end of the 
county, about twelve or thirteen miles from Jeffersonville, 
and two miles east of Springville. This lead ore really comes 
from a stratum of dolomite, lying apparently about 200 feet 
below the felspathic flint lead, which marks the iron and 
manganese above mentioned. In Nye's Cove, and occasion- 
ally at other places, the Lower Helderberg limes show in 
thicknesses varying between 6 or 8 feet and 75 feet. These 
rocks hold small quantities of lead and zinc ores, but are not 
supposed to exist in sufficient quantities to pay for working. 
Also in the Marcellus black shales and slates small crystals 
of lead ore now and then show. These measures are observ- 
able in only a few places in Tazewell County — Nye's Cove, 
and a part of the south of Clinch Mountain, west of Burk's 
Garden. 



TAZEWELL CO. — BUILDING STONES. 181 

BAEYTES. 

Baryta seems to exist in the county in sufficient quantities 
to satisfy all the demands of trade in that article. A fifteen 
feet vein runs on the north side of Clinch River through the 
Cavitt's Creek country, and down through the Baptist Valley 
ridges all the way into Eussell County, where it shows 
on the north side of Clinch River. This measure is between 
walls of flint on one side and dolomitic limestone on the 
other, in places; but it varies in thickness and quality 
very much. Where it is easily observable — as at a point in 
the main road leading from Jeffersonville toward Baptist 
Valley, on the north side of Clinch River — it shows well for 
thickness and quality. It appears to occupy a position about 
five hundred feet above the felspathic fliut lead above men- 
tioned. 

COPPER. 

Coj)per ore is sometimes found in traces in the felspathic 
flint, which it may be as well to repeat, is the stratum which 
lies near the division between the Calciferous and Trenton 
limes — carrying the iron and manganese ores. 

SALT. 

Falling Waters, toward the northwestern border of the 
county, seems to offer a true salt basin. The salt-bearing 
series underlies this part of the valley, and would no doubt 
yield brine if properly hunted after. A few miles lower down 
the Clinch River not only salt but petroleum seems to have 
been discovered oozing from the surface, but as yet nothing 
has been done of a satisfactory nature toward the develop- 
ment of the field. 

BUILDLNG STONES. 

Numerous ledges of both lime and sandstone exist in vari- 
ous parts of the county very well suited to building purposes. 



182 TAZEWELL CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS. 

Some of the limes are even ornamental, as those lying in such 
masses in the hills north of and about the court-house ; no 
doubt the same gray masses which are near the division be- 
tween the Trenton and Hudson epochs. 

The sandstones, fit for building purposes, are those 
abounding in the coal measures, many masses of which are 
soft when quarried, but become very hard on exposure. 

SOAPSTONE 

Is found in ledges quite frequently as highly magnesian 
limestone, but no true steatite is found. Occasionally near 
the coal veins impure silicate of magnesia shows itself in 
thin beds. 

MARBLE. 

The large beds of variegated and gray limes, which have 
such a character as fine marble in Russell and Scott counties 
farther west, seem to have lost their distinctive character as 
such in Tazewell, and are not in such masses. In this it is 
not asserted that there is no marble in the county, for the 
strata about the base of the Hudson epoch, near the northern 
bases of the larger mountains, must show occasional beds. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

The Tazewell Springs, a sulphur spring situated five 
miles northwest from Jeffersonville near the Sandy turnpike, 
is a white sulphur water, containing such constituents as to 
render it diaphoretic in its effects. It is a good spring of its 
kind, and was at one time, before the era of railroads, a place 
of resort. Now that a railroad is likely soon to be con- 
structed near it, will command attention again. 

At Mouth of Indian, or Cedar Bluffs, there is a fine white 
sulphur spring on the bank of Clinch River, in a lovely and 



TAZEWELL CO. — TIMBER. 183 

romantic situation. The water is charged with sulphate of 
magnesia and other valuable constituents, and flows from a 
series of magnesian rocks not far from the line of fissure sepa- 
rating the limestones from the coal measures. This spring 
has been provided with a neat basin hollowed out of a single 
stone ; and its fine curative powers, combined with its very 
convenient location, will make it a place of resort when a 
railway is built near it, and is even now much visited. 

At Mustard's, in the eastern middle portion of the county 
near some of the head springs of Clinch Biver, are eight fine 
mineral springs very close together. Two of these come up on 
two sides of one thin ledge of limestone, one apparently is an 
arsenical spring, the other a blue sulphur, while the charac- 
ter of the others has not been determined. These springs are 
regarded as highly curative by those who have tried them ; 
they yield a fine supply of water. In many other places in 
the county mineral springs break out, but the above men- 
tioned are those which command the confidence of those who 
have tried them as curative agents. 

TIMBER. 

This subject is difficult to treat with justice in a few words. 
The widespread fertility of the soil in Tazewell gave the 
county at one time a very large proportion of walnut, maple, 
poplar, linn, cucumber, etc. It is true that immense quanti- 
ties of these valuable trees have been destroyed in clearing 
the lands, but that very large quantities still remain is equally 
true. Every tree that this latitude is capable of producing 
seems to grow to its utmost limit of size and beauty in Taze- 
well County, among which may be mentioned, white and 
black walnut, poplar, cherry, linn, cucumber, wahoo, hickory, 
ash, white oak, chestnut oak, red oak, black oak, pin oak, 
and other varieties of oak, maple sugar tree, or large maple, 



184 TAZEWELL CO. — WATER POWER. 

buckeye, mountain mahogany, birch, beech, dogwood, locust, 
elm, sycamore, yellow pine, black pine, white pine, cedar, 
hemlock, or spruce pine, and upon some of the higher points, 
such as Bear Town, extensive forests of balsam fir. Among 
the shrubs and flowering plants there are many of the 
most beautiful. In the spring the wide-spreading woodlands 
are resonant with the songs of birds of varied plumage, not 
yet invaded by that murderous nuisance the English sparrow. 
To attempt to fix a commercial value upon the woods of 
Tazewell, would be idle. That can only be determined by 
the facilities which any line of railway running through the 
county may present. The walnut is in sufficient quantity to 
be the source of a sjjlendid revenue. Such is the case with 
many other trees. Sugar tree, mountain mahogany, and other 
ornamental woods, besides white oak, will supply a large 
demand. In many localities, such as Nye's Cove, the chest- 
nut oak will yield immensely in tan-bark. From this last 
source the county will derive a very considerable revenue. 

WATER POWER. 

The average fall of the larger streams of the county being 
rather over than under twenty-five feet per mile, it may safely 
be assumed that there is abundance of water power in the 
county. Clinch River discharges near the Mouth of Indian 
about 185 cubic feet per second, and has sufficient fall 
there to give three very good powers within two miles. 
Thence all the way up this stream to near its source 
on the main branch and tributaries, it is used to run 
grist and saw-mills, carding machines, woolen factories, etc. 
Maiden Spring Fork, scarcely inferior in size to the Clinch 
River, offers many mill sites, its fall being steeper. Blue 
Stone River, in the eastern section of the county, and the 
Clear Fork of Wolf Creek, are somewhat smaller than Clinch 



TAZEWELL CO. — AGRICULTURE. 185 

River at Mouth of Indian, but they supply numerous water 
powers, only about one half of which are in use. Cove Creek, 
the stream which comes out of Nye's Cove, offers very good 
water power. Many small streams offer limited powers which 
would be useful for grinding. The never-failing character of 
these streams is one of their chief recommendations. A 
power calculated upon their ordinary discharge may be relied 
upon. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Hitherto manufactures have not been very carefully fostered 
in this community, but of recent years some very successful 
efforts have been made in that direction. The woolen mill, 
two and a half miles east of Jeffersonville on that branch of 
Clinch River, annually cards and spins a great deal of the wool 
of that vicinity and neighboring counties, and turns out a very 
creditable line of goods from its looms. Efforts are being 
made to increase the capacity of the woolen mills just above 
the Mouth of Indian, which have so long been in operation 
there. The locality is one that invites enterprise and capital. 
At this place is situated a tobacco factory having a capacity 
of about 150,000 pounds of manufactured tobacco. Both it 
and the fine furniture factory, located at the same place, will 
be greatly stimulated by the building of a railroad through 
that section. 

AGRICULTURE. 

In speaking of this subject it is difficult to avoid the use of 
effusive language. With the exception of a part of the coal belt, 
perhaps three fourths of its area is capable of producing fine 
grass, notwithstanding the county is traversed in its greatest 
length by more than one of the highest mountains in the 
Appalachian Chain. Even upon the very summits of some 
of these lofty ridges there are extensive grass fields, upon 



186 TAZEWELL CO. — AGRICULTURE. 

which a large number of cattle, sheej), horses, etc., graze 
annually. 

Nature may have endowed other portions of the country 
equally with Tazewell in the distribution of her choice gifts ; 
but it is doubtful if any other locality unites so many advan- 
tages adapted to grazing purposes as may be found here. 
Not only is the grass a natural product, and of a highly nutri- 
tious kind, but the fields are nearly all without exception 
well watered, and the small insects, flies, mosquitoes, etc., 
which annoy cattle so much at other places, are either absent, 
or have so short a season in which to ply their vocation that 
they are not injurious. With the least economy and care these 
truly magnificent grass fields would sustain a fine population 
in greater independence, ease, and even luxury than any other 
section except the nearly similar districts of neighboring 
counties. Throughout nearly all the valleys and far up, even 
to the crests on some of the mountains, the highly fossil-bear- 
ing limes of the Trenton and Hudson epochs are adding 
annually a new supply of fertilizing material to the soil, 
decomposing to some extent with every rain in summer, and 
more with each freeze and thaw of winter. The fossil shells 
of these rocks are easily detected in nearly every ledge ; and, 
being charged to some extent with phosphate of lime, it is 
easy to understand how their decomposition will affect the 
soil beneficially. It is hardly necessary to cite localities in 
which these results are prominently brought out. To use a 
common expression, they are all over. The Cove, Burk's 
Garden, about Liberty, Maiden Spring, the river two miles 
east of Jeffersonville, Wright's Valley, Abb's Valley, Blue 
Stone, Clear Fork, localities about Baptist Valley, the river, 
the slopes of the mountains — and where not ? 

Not only is the land productive of the fine grasses, such 
as blue grass — which is natural — with Ptandal grass, clover, 
timothy, orchard grass, herd's grass and the like ; but corn, 



TAZEWELL CO. — SCENERY. 187 

wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, and all vegetables yield 
largely in the rich soil. 

It is not too much to say that Tazewell stands almost alone 
in Virginia for unaided natural capacity as an agricultural 
county. 

SCENEEY. 

If attractive scenery can lend anything to the interest which 
might be induced by the other valuable features of the county, 
Tazewell could easily supply all that would be needed for the 
purpose, though the ability to paint or describe it might be 
wanting. Burk's Garden is an emerald sea in the spring time, 
with waving trees and noble pastures. 3,200 feet is its eleva- 
tion above the ocean, with its border encircled by the Clinch 
Range of mountains, some peaks of which' — as Bear Town — 
attain an elevation of 4,700 feet. Burk's Garden, though 
often described, it may be repeated, is about eight miles long 
from northeast to southwest, and about four and a half miles 
wide. It looks as though it had once been a mountain lake, the 
waters of which had burst their way through the northern es- 
carpment that helped to hold it, leaving the beautiful trout 
stream that now pours through the gorge to mark its course. 
Geologically it rests in the center of one of the only great 
anticlinals in this section of the country. The great moun- 
tain, containing the Upper and Lower Silurian rocks, having 
been partially folded by a great pressure from the southeast, 
seems to have been parted along the crest of the anticlinal 
fold by a pressure subsequently exerted from the opposite 
direction, causing it to spread apart, leaving the limestones 
toward the base interjected between each other, so as to 
form the great plain now known as the great grass-producing 
Burk's Garden. There is no telling how much of it has been 
denuded and washed away in the course of time. Surround- 
ing mountains and all must at one time have occupied a 
much higher position than they now do. 



188 TAZEWELL CO. — SCENERY. 

Thompson's and Ward's Coves form the wings of a great 
opening in the great mountain belt, somewhat similar in 
character to Burk's Garden, and offer, together with the 
country about Maiden Spring, Liberty, and Paint Lick Moun- 
tain, with its high, wall-like cliffs painted by the Indians, a 
piece of landscape scenery of marvelous beauty. 

From Dial Rock, which is near the western terminus of 
East River Mountain, all that vast plain, with its grassy 
fields and wooded hills, about Jeffersonville, and the country 
east and north, look like the realization of Eden. From this 
point, the mountains seem to be marshaled rank after rank, 
as far as the eye can see. In some lights, the beholder is 
almost persuaded the great silent scene will take motion and 
march away. 

Space forbids further attempt to eulogize in tame language 
a subject so perfect from the hand of nature. To see it only 
can it be realized. 

The game and fish of the county are interesting subjects. 
A few bears still roam in the high woods and thick laurel 
of Bear Town Mountain, and the bass in the streams furnish 
fine sport. 

The Fruits of the county are all those which this latitude 
produces so abundantly, and Tazewell fares like the rest in 
being very certain of a good apple crop annually, with the 
peaches only somewhat doubtful. 

Grape culture has been very carefully attended to by 
several prominent gentlemen at the court-house and two or 
three miles east of there. In fact, these gentlemen have 
clearly demonstrated the high perfection to which the native 
varieties can be brought by proper training and attention. 

Bee culture is engaging the attention of the people more 
and more every year, and with the proper stimulus in the 
way of transportation, would eventually become a paying 
industry. 



TAZEWELL CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 189 

TRADE LN CATTLE, SHEEP, WOOL, WHEAT, CORN, AND TOBACCO. 

Cattle annually sold from the county. . . .11,500 head 
(Of this number a proportion, which increases annually, 
goes to Europe.) 

Sheep 10,000 head 

Wool, which is more than half used at 

home 30,000 pounds 

Wheat 65,000 bushels 

Corn 8,000 " 

Tobacco 10,000 pounds 

There being no transportation now to distant markets, very 
little more wheat and corn are raised than will supply the 
home demand. 

The trade in horses and' mules is not very considerable, 
hardly enough to merit a notice. There is a decided spirit 
of improvement gaining ground in the minds of the people 
with reference to all classes of stock. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Jeffersonville, the county site, is the chief place. It con- 
tains good schools, churches of different denominations, 
stores well supplied with everything generally sold in the 
better districts of country, hotels, and shops of various 
kinds for the repair of wagons, plows, smithing, etc. 

Liberty is a village nine miles southwest from Jeffersonville, 
supplied with a hotel, stores, etc. 

Mouth of Indian, or Cedar Bluff, at the junction of Indian 
Creek with Clinch River, is sixteen miles west of the court- 
house, a thriving place, having a hotel, stores, furniture and 
tobacco factories, saw and grist-mills, and will become a 
manufacturing center, being within a mile or two of the 



190 RUSSELL CO. — HOW BOUNDED. 

great coal deposits on one side and the iron ore on the 
other. 

Springville and Fall's Mills are in the eastern part of the 
county, and they, with several other places of that size, form 
good trading places for their respective neighborhoods. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Tazewell has always been careful to keep up its public 
schools. The appearance of the school-houses attests this 
fact, and now her schools seem to be more prosperous than 
they were some years back. 



RUSSELL COUNTY. 

This large county is noted for its fine grass lands, its coal, 
timber, and marble. It is not without large and valuable 
iron ore deposits ; but its high character for extensive areas of 
fine blue-grass lands, thick coal veins, and heavily timbered 
forests composed of valuable woods, give it a name for both 
beauty and fertility, as an agricultural, mineral, and timbered 
county, shared by only a few of the other counties in the 
State. Could any landscape exceed in beauty Rosedale and 
Elk Garden ? They are only equaled by a few places in 
Southwestern Virginia. In Russell, they may find almost a 
counterpart in Cassel's Woods, some parts of the county 
toward Hansonville and Dickinsonville, and occasional spots 
about New Garden, including the river scenery afforded by 
the different branches of Clinch River. It is singular that so 
much natural wealth should have lain so long among so 
progressive a people without fuller development. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Russell is about 34 miles long from east to west, and 18 
miles wide from north to south. The broad dividing ridge 



EUSSELL CO. — GEOLOGY OF EUSSELL. 191 

which separates the waters of Clinch River from those of 
Sandy River marks its northern boundary line, the next 
county north being Buchanan County. South, Russell is 
divided from Washington County by Clinch Mountain, a great 
barrier which runs a course about north 70° east for many 
miles through this section of Virginia. West it is bounded 
by Scott County, and east by Tazewell. 

HOW WATEEED. 

The county is well watered, mainly by Clinch River and its 
tributaries occupying the northern half of the county. Its 
southwest section has a considerable length of Moccasin 
Creek, a tributary of Holston River. 

GEOLOGY OF EUSSELL. 

Russell, on the south, shows the rocks of the Upper Silu- 
rian age dipping southwardly. As you proceed north you 
pass over the edges of the next lower strata, through the 
Hudson River and part of the Trenton limestones, etc., until 
you reach the great fault, north of the line of Clinch River, 
which marks the southern limit of the great Kanawha Coal 
Basin. Then for about five miles you are in the coal rocks, 
carrying you to the northern boundary line. 

Nearly all the strata of rocks pass through the county from 
northeast to southwest, in a direction parallel with the course 
of the mountain ranges ; and hence a description of a section 
taken at nearly any north and south line will have its mate- 
rial points very much the same. 

The Clinch Mountain Range, having been subjected to some 
cross flexures and end compressions, is duplicated more than 
once in Russell ; hence the iron ores, which are common to 
the rocks of which it is composed, are brought out in con- 
siderable quantities. Thus, the southern border of the 



192 RUSSELL CO. — GEOLOGY OF RUSSELL. 

county is marked by the dyestone and Oriskany series — 
mainly on the mountain crests— giving valuable deposits at 
intervals along the south boundary of the dyestone or fossil 
red ore of very high grade, and of the brown* ores of the 
Oriskany. In the latter may also 'be found respectable quan- 
tities of manganese. Very frequently the Hudson River 
limestones form the crests of these southern hills and moun- 
tains — as in the case of Rich Mountain — which, by the 
decomposition of their highly fossiliferous strata, make a 
rich and enduring soil, well adapted to grass, which is of 
spontaneous growth. Passing north a few hundred yards to 
the northern foot of the Clinch Range, you meet with the 
thick ledges of variegated stone about the division between 
the Trenton and Hudson series, looking now and then as if it 
would make a fine marble. Close under this, outcropping to 
the north, is a thick band of gray and pink marble, having a 
fine texture, and admitting of a high polish. Passing north- 
wardly, over Trenton limestones dipping in various direc- 
tions, you reach Copper Ridge, which is a continuation 
southwestwardly of Paint Lick and House and Barn Moun- 
tains, with the iron ore formation of No. 4 generally denuded. 
The lower rocks of the Trenton in this ridge, holding the 
ledges of felspathic material, seem to be brought up to the 
surface, occasionally showing good deposits of iron ores and 
fine crystals of manganese. In a short distance northwardly 
you reach Clinch River, close to which, on the north side, is 
the great fault, which brings an upthrow of Lower Silurian 
limestone in contact with the coal rocks. Between the river 
and this fault is a range of flint measures extending north- 
east and southwest through the count}', which, for the greater 
part, yields about 15 feet thickness of fine barytes, occasion- 
ally showing fine crystals of lead and a trace of carbonate of 
copper. 

The rocks along here generally dip southwardly. 1 



EUSSELL CO. — GEOLOGY OP RUSSELL. 



193 




Sandy flidgB 



Ciineh Fiver 



s Bidgv 



Copper Jiidge 

1 I 
House <E Barn JTaunlnin) 



IE BEARTSWH 



Clinch mountain 



r 



fea- 
st 



§ 



13 



194 RUSSELL CO. — IRON ORES. 

fault alluded to is frequently a double one ; that is, between 
the limestones and the horizontal coal rocks there is a great 
fragment of the coal strata dipping southwardly at a high 
angle, separated from the more regular measures on the 
north by a distinct line. 

After this, until you reach the northern boundary line, 
mainly on the crest of Sandy Ridge, you are in regular meas- 
ures of nearly horizontal lying strata of coal rocks. 



IRON ORES. 

It would be very difficult to form an estimate of the prob- 
able quantities of different ores in the county of Russell. 
The fossil red, of a very high grade, is about two feet thick, 
in several small veins, in discontinuous measures, in Clinch 
Mountain. Brown iron ores of the Oriskany, in the same 
mountain, are subject to the same conditions as the fossil 
ores, and so are the manganese ores. The brown ores in 
Kent's Ridge and the river hills, along down the line of the 
Clinch, are due to the decomposition of a vein of sulphuret, 
which is found throughout this tier of counties, about the 
junction of the Black River and Trenton limestones ; also on 
Cedar Creek, two and a half miles east of Lebanon, near an 
old forge site. This liue of ores will prove to be an interest- 
ing adjunct to any railway line located near Clinch River. 
The thickness may be placed at six feet. The House and 
Barn Mountain, on the east side of the county, has unfortu- 
nately been long denuded of the masses of dyestone ore which 
once crowned it ; and it now only shows a deposit here and 
there, sufficient to delude the unwary into the belief that 
there are still large quantities of ore about the mountain. 

It is possible that the ores now and then showing in Cop- 
per Ridge are the same in character and origin as those in 
Kent's Ridge and the river hills. 



EUSSELL CO. — IEON. 195 

COAL. 

There is nothing left to conjecture concerning the coal in 
this county, except, perhaps, its exact geological age. Where 
the veins are known to be so continuous, with good measures 
and occupying such an area, their position in proper geologi- 
cal succession is not of so much consequence. It may safely 
be assumed that a great part of the Lower Measures is here 
represented. The area in this county is about 100 square 
miles. The veins are thick and some of them are of cannel coal. 

Up the Hurricane Fork of Dumps Creek, the lowest vein 
in sight — at the bed of the creek, near Grisell's — measured 
nine feet four inches, pitch one in twenty, south 80^ east, with 
head-wall of slate fifteen feet thick, overlaid with thin bedded 
sandstones ; foot-wall eight inches of clay slate, underlaid by 
heavy sandstones of rather irregular formation. This coal is 
of the flaming bituminous variety. 

One hundred and fifty feet above this is a vein of very 
much the same kind of coal, nearly five feet thick, cropping 
out at Easn icks—. One hundred feet above this is another 
vein of good coal, not yet measured at that point for want of 
proper openings. Fifty feet over this is a vein of cannel 
coal eleven inches thick, underlaid by quartzose, blackish 
sandstone, underlaid again by a heavy band of sandstone ; 
the roof is three and a half feet of slate, overlaid by about 
100 feet of sandstone. Over this is a series of sandstones 
and slates, with veins of coal, running up to an elevation 
above the creek of about 1,000 feet. 

It was impossible to get at the exact number and thickness 
of the veins in the series here. No developments of the veins 
outcropping any distance above the creeks have been made ; 
but, that the coal exists in good veins, at intervals, all the way 
to the tops of the hills is a fact revealed here and there by 
land-slides in the steeper hollows and wet places. 



196 RUSSELL CO. — LIMESTONE. 

The reading obtained on Dumps Creek, with some varia- 
tions in the measures, will give a fair idea of the whole. 

Mill Creek, Sword's Creek, the upper end of Lewis Creek, 
Thompson's Creek, Weaver's Creek, and Lick Creek, as well 
as Dumps Creek, rise in the coal measures and cut dee]} sec- 
tions as they pass through the coal rocks on their way to 
Clinch River. 

LEAD AND ZINC. 

There is an outcropping of baryta-bearing rocks on the 
north side of Clinch River, not far below the junction of 
Maiden Spring Fork, which also shows some lead sulphuret; 
but it is not probable that any workable veins will be discov- 
ered. Zinc is not found in any quantity. 

BARYTES. 

Barytes, in a vein about fifteen feet thick, is found in the 
series of rocks about the upper part of the Calciferous rocks, 
marked by beds of felspathic flint. The quantity of barytes 
in the county, along the line of hills bordering Clinch River 
on the north, must be enormous. So far as observed it must 
afford an immense tonnage to any railway line that might be 
built near it. 

COPPER ORE. 

Small particles of carbonate of copper are found in the 
same rocks. 

SALT. 

The salt-bearing series of Nos. 10 and 12 underlie the coal 
measures in this county, at accessible depths. 

LIMESTONE. 

The limestones of Russell are chiefly of the Trenton and 
Hudson River series. They are generally very fossiliferous, 



RUSSELL CO. — TD1BER. 197 

many ledges affording excellent lime. About Clincli River 
the upper measures of Calciferous limestones show occasion- 
ally ; weathering sometimes very light drab as if they were 
highly magnesian. 

BUILDING STONES. 

The coal measures afford a sandstone easily worked in the 
quarry, which, upon exposure, becomes very hard. Many 
ledges of limestone are suitable for building purposes. 

MARBLE. 

Perhaps no other mention of the marble may be consid- 
ered necessary, further than to say that its great quantity to- 
ward the south side of the county is such as to render it 
an item of consequence to any railway line passing through 
the county. 

MINERAL SPRLNGS. 

"While there are many mineral springs of value in the 
county, no doubt, there are none as yet improved. 

TIMBER. 

It would astonish any one from the great timber and lum- 
ber markets, where everything of the kind has its value, to 
see the quantities of fine trees destroyed annually in clearing 
lands. Very frequently the log heaps are composed of wal- 
nut, hickory, white oak, and poplar, ready for the torch. It 
is the only way the people have of getting the timber that 
they do not want for fencing purposes out of the way. This 
county is supplied with vast quantities of fine timber — about 
the river the black walnut and the sycamore. In fact, there 
are few localities in the county where the walnut is not 
found. Occasionally, as at Little Bear Town, on a loup of 
the Clinch Mountain Eange, the balsam fir tree is found in 



198 RUSSELL CO. — AGRICULTURE. 

considerable quantities. White oak abounds everywhere. 
Poplar, cherry, locust, chestnut, chestnut oak, and other 
varieties of oak, linn, sugar, buckeye, and several varieties 
of smaller growth. In the hills of the coal measures nearly 
all these trees, including the hemlock, abound in their 
primitive size and beauty, and in quantities seemingly suf- 
ficient to defy extermination. 

WATER POWER. 

Clinch River, after the junction of the two principal 
branches in the east end of the county, discharges about 220 
cubic feet per second, and constantly increases its volume as 
it descends. Its fall is sufficiently great to afford numerous 
valuable powers. Cedar Creek, one of its principal trib- 
utaries flowing near Lebanon, the court-house, having a 
rather high average fall per mile, offers a good many mill 
sites. Moccasin Creek gives good power. Lick Creek, In- 
dian Creek, Lewis Creek, and the other creeks on the north 
side of Clinch River, afford good powers of limited amount. 
These streams are reliable throughout the year. In cases of 
extreme drought some of those heading in the coal rocks may 
get low ; but the others rarely, if ever, get down too low for 
use. 

MANUFACTURES. 

There are no manufactures of any consequence in the 
county. A few carding machines, to card the wool for home 
use, besides the mills, are about all. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The principal feature in agriculture is the great grass- 
producing area that covers nearly two thirds of the county. 
These lands are kept perennially fertile by the decomposition 
of fossil limestones, and of occasional thin ledges of felspar. 



RUSSELL CO. — SCENEEY. 199 

"Where the lands have been in cultivation for many years, 
without proper rotation of crops, they show signs of exhaus- 
tion ; but plaster and clover seem to restore them rapidly. 
Outside of the care shown by those who are trying to keep up 
good grazing farms, there is little effort to improve the style 
cf farming. There are thousands of acres of land which, under 
a proper system of cultivation, would be capable of enriching 
a population of twenty times the number now living in the 
county. Sheep husbandry, if carefully looked after, would 
be highly remunerative. In the small flocks now common, 
and without much attention, the sheep fall an easy prey to all 
kinds of enemies. 

Wheat, corn, oats, hay, rye, flax, buckwheat, potatoes, etc., 
are the chief staples, and are mostly consumed at home. 
There is no tobacco of any consequence raised in Russell 
County. Upon the great grass farms are raised much of the 
fine stock which supplies the English markets. 

A great many fine sheep are being raised by a few individ- 
uals ; horses and mules are not now the paying industries 
they were a few years ago. 

SCENERY. 

It would be useless to attempt to describe the many fine 
landscapes presented to the eye on every hand in Russell 
County. 

It is made up of picture after picture of the finest views 
which ever came from the hand of the great artist, Nature. 
The beautiful grass lands, limited by the high mountains, 
threaded by the constant streams, which everywhere flow 
from bold springs, not only fill up the measure of the beauti- 
ful, but carry the conviction of the great wealth and utility of 
the fine lands and streams. 

Fruits do well in the county. Perhaps peaches are more 



200 RUSSELL CO. — LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

certain than in the counties farther east. Grapes are com- 
mon. Bees do well ; and fsh, such as black bass, the red- 
eye, etc., are the natural inhabitants of the Clinch and Hol- 
ston rivers and their tributaries. They need protection and 
care, however, or they will begin to disappear. 

TRADE LN CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, AND CORN. 

The number of cattle annually sold from Russell is about 
10,500 head. Of this number perhaps 2,000 find their way 
to European markets, either in first or second hands. Of 
sheep there are about 9,500. Of wheat about 45,000 bushels, 
and but little corn. Of all other products, the home con- 
sumption now meets the production, except that about 450 
horses and mules, in good season, find their way to eastern 
markets. 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

There are now chartered three principal lines of railway, 
that have some probability of being built, which will give to 
Russell nearly all the facilities it will require. 

The Richmond and Southwestern Railway will run for 
thirty miles, through the Clinch River section of the county. 

The Saltville and Coal Mine Railroad, if built, will run 
diagonally across the center of the county, from the south- 
east to the northwest, and would be of great value to the 
county, crossing the iron, marble, coal, and timber belts in 
succession. 

The Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio Railroad has a branch 
road provided for in its charter, which might pursue the line 
of Clinch River on its way to Pound Gap. This road would 
afford a valuable outlet to coal and timber, toward Norfolk, 
without much risk of coming into competition with other 
coals. 



SCOTT COUNTY. 201 



TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 



Lebanon, the county site, is a village near the center of the 
county, a short distance from Cedar Creek ; with churches of 
different denominations, schools, hotels, good stores, smith 
shops, etc. It is healthfully located. Hansonville, in the 
southwest side of the county on Moccasin, is a handsome 
little place, with a mill, stores, etc. Honakersville, on Lewis 
Creek, north side of the county, is a busy place, with a mill, 
stores, church, etc. Dichinsonv'iUe and other places in the 
county, such as Rosedale and Elk Garden, are convenient 
places of trade for the surrounding country. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The public schools, according to the last report of the 
State Superintendent, Dr. Ruffner, are on a better footing 
than formerly, and will in the future be more carefully 
attended to. 



SCOTT COUNTY. 

The county of Scott differs very much in its physical ap- 
pearance from the neighboring counties even of the same geo- 
logical age. Its hilly character will, it is thought, finally 
cause it to be used principally in the culture of grapes and 
sheep. Along Clinch Eiver, which flows through it from 
northeast to southwest, there are, however, very nice bottom 
lands, making many fine farms. Along the Holston Eiver, in 
the southern part of the county, this condition is also ob- 
servable. But Scott is important in area and in undeveloped 
resources. Its mineral springs are highly valuable ; and its 
marble, ores, and coal, with its endless water power, will 
cause it to assume a high position under favorable conditions 
of transportation. 



202 SCOTT CO.— GEOLOGICAL. 



HOW BOUNDED. 

The county is bounded north by the Powell's Mountain 
Range, separating it from Wise and Lee counties ; on the east 
by Russell and Washington counties, and south by Sullivan 
and Hancock counties of the State of Tennessee. 

HOW WATERED. 

Scott is well watered by Clinch and Holston rivers and 
some of their principal tributaries, the great body of the 
county being traversed its greatest length by Clinch River, 
which has two considerable affluents in the county — the North 
Fork of Clinch River and Copper Creek. Holston River re- 
ceives Moccasin Creek, which breaks through Clinch Moun- 
tain at Big Moccasin Gap, after traversing a large portion of 
the eastern part of the county. 

There are, of course, many minor tributaries of both rivers. 
Of the Clinch River some of the most noted are Stock Creek, 
upon which is situated the famous natural tunnel ; Cove 
Creek, Stony Creek, and Stanton Creek, upon which are 
situated Hagan's Mineral Springs. 

GEOLOGICAL. 

The geology of Scott is nearly similar to that of Russell 
County, with the exception of that part lying west of Wild- 
cat Creek. But a close examination of the rocks near to and 
south of the coal area, in the northern part of the county, 
shows the existence of a long fragment of the dyestone ore 
strata and accompanying rocks ; a condition which is not true 
of Russell County, except as to a small section known as the 
Big Ax Mountain. 

To give a thoroughly correct idea of the geology in different 
parts of the county it would really be necessary to present 
two cross sections extending from northwest to southeast 



SCOTT CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 



203 



lEVELl XTOWtjdA 





^j4% r '"" Fossil Or* 




'UJffl.0 q ABOVC ^TUEjMA3 



204 SCOTT CO. — IRON ORES. 

across the eastern and western ends of the county respect- 
ively. The eastern section could be made twenty-five miles 
in length, that being the width of the county at that end ; 
while the western one would be about ten and a .half miles 
long, that being the best average width west of Spear's Ferry. 

COAL. 

The coal area of Scott County, of any value, lies in the 
northern extremity of the county next to the county of Wise. 
It is quite accessible from the Wise County or western side 
on the head- waters of Powell's River, as well as from the 
southern side, where the head-waters of Stony Creek break 
through the ridge forming the southern bifurcation of Pow- 
ell's Mountain. 

This is a much more valuable coal area than is generally 
believed. The veins are in better condition and lie more 
regularly, with much less disturbance and faults than there is 
apparent room for supposing. But such is the case. Seem- 
ingly this area is merely an unbroken continuation of the 
great coal area of Wise County under very much the same 
conditions. The accompanying special section will give a 
very good general idea of not only the regularity of the veins, 
but of their relationship with the neighboring strata lying 
south of the coal area. This coal area in Scott is about five 
miles broad, at its broadest, by about eighteen miles in 
length ; and, together with the iron and manganese ores and 
the marble, helps to make Scott one of the most important 
mineral counties in the State. 

IRON ORES. 

Fossil or Red Ore. 

The fossil ores of Scott occur in Powell's Mountain west 
of Flat Lick, in a low and somewhat broken ridge just south 



SCOTT CO. — BROWN ORES. 205 

of the coal area, and in the south face of Clinch Mountain, 
the ores in Powell's Mountain and the ridge just mentioned 
being regarded as superior to the ores of Clinch Mountain. 
It has been often contended that Copper Kidge, in the 
central portion of the county, contains fossil ore also, but it 
has escaped notice in all the more recent examinations. 
Big Eidge may contain some of it, as a fragment thrown off 
from the main deposits, but this is extremely doubtful. It is 
hardly necessary to give the measures of these fossil ore 
veins, as they are nearly identical in all respects with the 
same ores in Wise and Lee counties. Thus it may safely 
be said that these veins aggregate sometimes a thickness of 
seven feet, by a length, in the county, of nearly fifty miles. 

Brown Ores. 

The brown ores of Scott County are almost wholly to be as- 
signed to the Helderberg and Oriskany rocks in the south face 
of Powell's Mountain and Clinch Mountain ; but Copper Eidge 
shows here and there a brown ore graduating into a red hem- 
atite, sometimes accompanied with manganese, which is no 
doubt in the same geological horizon with the ores of Kent's 
Eidge in Eussell and Tazewell, and with similar ores in Eich 
Valley in Smyth County. Brown ores of excellent quality 
are also found along the length of Moccasin Eidge and Big 
Eidge, all of which are easily accessible, and will yield a ton- 
nage, above water level, far beyond the power of the writer to 
estimate. 

The brown ores graduating into a red, spoken of as being 
found in Copper Eidge, no doubt sometimes assume the ap- 
pearance of a red ore with bright particles, leading the un- 
initiated to believe them to be fossil red ores. From this it 
may be inferred that the mistake about fossil red ores in 
Copper Eidge has arisen. This ore when pure is really 



206 SCOTT CO. — SALT. 

more valuable than the fossil ore, because it usually carries 
so high a percentage of metallic iron ; and it may be taken 
for granted, with a degree of certainty, that in many places in 
Copper Ridge, though now covered so with debris as not to 
be discernible, there are bodies of this ore equally as great 
in magnitude as those of the same horizon in Smyth, Giles, 
and Tazewell counties. This horizon is about at the division 
between the Trenton and Black River series, and it may be 
well for the reader to remember that the same formations 
follow the same ridges nearly uniformly throughout their 
length in the county. 

MANGANESE. 

Manganese in fine crystals is found here and there 
throughout the length of Copper Ridge and Big Ridge in the 
county. 

LEAD. 

There are occasional pieces of lead ore — such as that found 
near Boatwright's, on Stony Creek, four miles from Fort 
Blackamore, which may lead to interesting results if prop- 
erly prosecuted. Some of the pieces of galenite, picked up 
where the creek, after a great freshet, had torn them from 
their original position, look like the fine silver-bearing lead 
ore of the West. But it would be premature to declare that 
there are large quantities of the ore present in the locality 
named, for much exploration and development are necessary 
to prove this interesting point. 

SALT. 

The existence of salt may be regarded as certain in the 
coal area, not more than five hundred feet below the surface ; 
but whether any basins will be found presenting all the con- 
ditions favorable for obtaining an unlimited supply of brine, 
is not yet determined. 



SCOTT CO. — WATER POWER. 207 

MARBLE. 

The existence of several varieties of fine variegated marble 
has long been conceded to Scott County. Passing through 
Estillville, the county site, from southwest to northeast along 
the northern base of Clinch Mountain, is the line of the out- 
crop of large masses of both gray and purplish marble in 
thick ledges. The gray is tinted throughout with flesh- 
colored spots that render it very handsome, while the more 
purple is rendered remarkable from the number of large fos- 
sils with which it abounds so thickly in places, some of the 
remains of corals being very distinct. 

The quantity of fine marble in large blocks which could be 
supplied from these ledges in the county, particularly near 
Estillville, is practically beyond the power of exhaustion, 
should a critical market be pleased with its coloring and 
style. 

BARYTES. 

This mineral is found occasionally in Copper Ridge and 
Big Ridge, but no developments of any consequence have yet 
been made. 

FIRE CLAY. 

Fire clay is found beneath some of the coal veins, but 
whether it will answer for the purpose of making the best 
kind of fire brick is not yet known. 

WATER POWER. 

Clinch River, before it finally passes into Tennessee on the 
southwest, discharges about 350 cubic feet per second ; the 
North Fork of Holston River, about two thirds this quantity. 
The Clinch, having about 20 feet fall per mile throughout its 
length in the county, affords many admirable water powers. 
Holston River is not quite so favorable. Copper Creek and 



208 SCOTT CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS. 

Big Moccasin, and the several minor tributaries of both the 
larger streams, afford water powers of any desirable grade. 
It may be said that the water power of Scott County is of a 
fine character, the streams being generally constant through- 
out the year. 

TIMBER. 

All that has been said of the best of the neighboring 
counties with regard to timber may be said with equal truth 
of Scott County. In the coal area, the poplar, or tulip tree, 
is abundant and very fine. The chestnut oak, the bark of 
which is so good for tanning purposes, is very abundant in 
the county ; while, through the body of the county, black and 
white walnut, hickory, maple, white oak, and other valuable 
trees are abundant. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The agriculture of the county is not in a very advanced 
condition as yet ; but that would no doubt be much improved 
under the encouragement given by cheap lines of transpor- 
tation, allowing the use of more profitable fertilizers. The 
cultivation of the beet for sugar making seems to be now 
one of the enterprises of the county. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

The mineral springs of known efficacy and reputation are 
the Holston Springs, two miles below Big Moccasin Gap, on 
Holston Biver, and Hagan's Springs, on Stanton Creek, in the 
northern part of the county. 

Holston Springs, not now open to visitors, has a fine brick 
hotel and a row of cabins, situated pleasantly on the north 
bank of Holston Biver. There are three or four springs 
issuing at one place. The largest is a spring of about 
61} 2 ° Fah., slightly impregnated with iron, yielding fifteen 



SCOTT CO. — SCENERY. 209 

gallons per minute. Near this is a limestone spring giving 
about eight gallons per minute, and within six feet is a sul- 
phur spring, apparently blue sulphur. The purely chalybe- 
ate spring is not a strong one in its flow, but the water is 
efficacious. 

Hagan's Springs are situated in a romantic spot between 
the mountains, having Powell's Mountain on the north. 
These springs are rendered attractive, not more by the ex- 
cellence of the two fine springs of white sulphur and chaly- 
beate, than the elegant house of noble dimensions and fine 
architecture, recently built by Mr. Hagan, the proprietor. 

SCENERY. 

Among the fine scenery of the State might be described 
several lovely views in Scott County, but one of the most 
attractive is the great natural tunnel or bridge in Stock 
Creek. Here, at an elevation of about 1,400 feet above sea 
level, is this remarkable natural phenomenon. 

There can be no scenery more grand and imposing than 
that afforded by the approach to the tunnel on the lower 
side. An immense wall of limestone rock, of the Lower Silu- 
rian age, forms a high, beetling cliff for several hundred yards 
below, making a most graceful curve from south to west, 
then north and northeast, then curving around to south again, 
after passing the mouth of the tunnel, describing the curve 
of a gracefully turned horseshoe. 

The walls of this towering cliff have been colored, in the 
course of time, in beautiful tints of red and sepia and brown, 
by the waters carrying down its face different solutions of 
lime, iron, and magnesia. Occasionally in some of the 
smaller clefts of this wonderfully beautiful cliff, cedars and 
overhanging pendent tufts of grass have taken hold, the ce- 
dars apparently dwarfed by the hard fight for a precarious 
14 



210 SCOTT CO. — MANUFACTURES, FURNACES, AND FORGES. 

existence. The whole forms one of the most imposing pieces 
of scenery to be found in this part of the country. At the 
same time it would delight the eye, it would baffle the skill 
of any artist to portray it in all its features. Perhaps at no 
place within so small a compass can such a combination of 
varied and interesting scenery be found ; an incomparable 
picture from the pencil of the greatest of all artists, nature. 

Could it be opened to the tourist, health and pleasure 
seeker, and the weary toiler of the cities, it would be 
thronged every season for months, for it is really perfectly 
beautiful and enchanting. 

A view was attempted to be taken of the lower approach 
from below a giant sycamore, which seemed to rear its gaunt 
arms as if in the vain endeavor to reach the top of the lofty 
cliff. 

MANUFACTURES, FURNACES, AND FORGES. 

With the exception of six wool-carding machines there 
are no manufactures worthy of the name in the county. It 
might be interesting to an antiquarian, who might be delving 
in the past history of iron making, to look up several small 
furnaces and forges long since out of blast, the traces of 
which are almost gone ; but it would scarcely be a matter of 
interest to state them here, for they were built and operated 
nearly a hundred years ago, some of them ; and the condi- 
tions which surrounded that remote period in our history 
have entirely changed. They gave way and went down under 
the advancing tide of Eastern supremacy in all branches of 
manufacture. Now the same ground is likely soon to be 
occupied by the successors of these manufacturers, who will 
be drawn to locate in a region where ores are abundant, and 
fuel and labor are so cheap as to make the products success- 
ful in any close competition with all the rest of the world. 



M H 

lit 

IIP 




NATURAL TUNNEL, SCOTT CO., VA. 

Lower Approach. 
(P. 210). 



SCOTT CO. — CATTLE, SHEEP, BOUSES, MULES, AND WHEAT. 211 
LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

While both the Holston and Clinch rivers have been 
occasionally utilized to ship wheat, corn, etc., toward Chatta- 
nooga, the hope of the people for reliable transportation 
seems to be centered now in what is known as the Bristol 
Coal and Iron Narrow-gauge Railroad. This road has its 
route from Bristol on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio 
Railroad, through Big Moccasin Gap, via Estillville, Spear's 
Ferry, the Natural Tunnel, and Flat Lick, to Big Stone Gap 
or Imboden City in Wise County, with a view of continuing 
on toward the Ohio River, through Harlan and other counties 
in Kentucky. The work on this road is being vigorously 
pushed forward, and the railroad company, with the assist- 
ance of the Tinsalia Coal and Iron Company, of Big Stone 
Gap, in Wise County, will soon complete the road, thus open- 
ing up to commerce the immense beds and deposits of coal 
and iron ore, the vast forests of timber, and the fine marble 
we have attempted to describe. 

Fish culture, bee culture, and grape culture are alike be- 
ginning to attract the attention of enterprising men. 

There can be no doubt that grape culture is suitable to 
Scott County in an eminent degree, and it must sooner or 
later command earnest attention. 



ANNUAL SURPLUS OF CATTLE, SHEEP, HORSES, MULES, AND WHEAT. 

Cattle. — 300 stock cattle annually. 
1,800 fat cattle annually. 
2,000 of inferior cattle, calves, etc. 
Sheep.— 5,000 head. 
Horses and mules.— 500 head annually sold. 

35,000 bushels of wheat annually shipped down the river 
to Chattanooga. 



212 LEE COUNTY. 

PKINCIPAL TOWNS, ETC. 

EstiUville is the county site, and the principal place of 
business in the county. Nichollsville, Sjiear's Ferry, Fort 
BlacJcamore, Pattonville, and Osbom's Ford are likewise places 
of business. 

EDUCATION. 

The question of education is becoming one of great im- 
portance in the county, and will assume a very healthy tone 
after the completion of the railroad. 



LEE COUNTY. 

This county has so many advantages, both mineral and 
agricultural, that when even so small a proportion of them as 
is presented here is considered it must excite surprise that 
no more strenuous efforts have been made heretofore to open 
them up to commerce. The contemplation of these and the 
other vast undeveloped resources of Southwestern Virginia, 
to say nothing of other sections of the State, kindles a feel- 
ing of .deep disdain for that system of statesmanship which 
can content itself with the consideration of a line of policy 
looking to mere personal aggrandizement, through the use 
of all the arts of low demagoguery, while a noble State, 
made up in great part of such counties as Lee, is com- 
pelled to linger on from year to year in the agonies of 
financial dissolution; not only compromising the fair fame 
she has won in the past, in every department in life, but 
practically yielding the commonwealth, her vast resources, 
and a once noble heritage of an illustrious and honorable 
name to utter strangers. "While it is not the intention of 
this book to go outside of the discussion of its legitimate 
objects, there can be no impropriety in calling the earnest 



LEE COUNTY. 213 

attention of the citizens of Virginia to the great loss they 
are sustaining by failing to properly appreciate the crisis the 
State is now in. Without an earnest endeavor on their part 
to combine for the utilization of the immense resources of 
the State, both for the advancement of private as well as 
public interests, political and financial bankruptcy is certain 
without the intervention of foreign capital, which may be 
employed as a mere channel to convey away the rich fruits of 
Virginia's mining and general industrial resources to distant 
places, only partially relieving her distress at last. 

Lee County can be cited as an illustration of general con- 
ditions with quite as much propriety as any other ; for in its 
boundary lines alone are the elements of an empire's redemp- 
tion from even worse conditions than those which encompass 
unhappy Virginia. Its fine and extensive grass and grain 
areas are not the least of its valuable features. In the iron 
ores and splendid areas of almost unparalleled coal veins, with 
matchless timber, there are possibilities far beyond the actual 
necessities of Virginia. Only one condition has been wanting 
for years — simply accessibility to markets ; and this has seem- 
ingly been denied, as if every effort since the war had been 
directed to prevent rather than facilitate that most desirable 
end. 

To the almost unlimited extent of fossil red iron ores are 
added valuable extensive deposits of brown ores. On a map of 
small scale, the coloring which shows respectively the location 
of ore and coal is spread over almost the same ground, and that 
which designates the locality of the limestone is intermingled 
with the iron ore and sometimes penetrates the coal areas. 
Nature has left nothing undone to stamp the area covered by 
the county as one of its most favored localities. Could it 
now have the number of furnaces, and mining and timbering 
stations to which it is so richly entitled, it would without other 
manufacturing establishments greatly alleviate by its tax- 



214 LEE CO. — COAL. 

paying power the burden of the State ; besides making for 
itself a name in iron industries which other sections might 
envy, but vainly strive to emulate. 

The county is over fifty miles in length by a breadth of 
seventeen — air line. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Lee is separated on the north from Harlan and Josh Bell 
counties of Kentucky by the main Cumberland Mountain ; on 
the northeast it is bounded by Wise County ; on the south- 
east by Scott County, and immediately south by Clairborne 
and Hancock counties of Tennessee. Lee is in the extreme 
southwest corner of Virginia, having the State of Tennessee 
on the south, and the State of Kentucky on its north and 
west, and is marked at its extreme western limit by the 
widely-known Cumberland Gap. 

HOW WATEEED. 

Lee is well watered by Powell's River and its tributaries. 
In its southeastern and eastern corners Blackwater and Wild- 
cat creeks flow through small sections of the county, which 
are tributaries of the main Clinch River. 

Powell's River, being fed by numerous limestone springs, is 
a very constant stream, and toward its lower end (in the 
county) is navigable through the winter months for batteaux. 
It furnishes sufficient transportation to ship large quantities 
of wheat and corn annually toward Chattanooga, and if a little 
assistance from the general government was afforded, the 
navigation of this river could be made reliable. Of this 
more will be said under the head of Transportation. 

COAL. 

It would be difficult indeed to place a proper estimate upon 
the coal area of Lee County. From the examinations made 




ORE KNOB COPPER MINE. 

(P. 214.) 



LEE CO. — COAL. 215 

by the author, as well as those of Me. Lesley and others, it is 
certain that Lee holds about 75 square miles of the coals 
which are classed as the most reliable for quantity and most 
excellent for quality in the great coal field to which it be- 
longs. 

The examinations of Me. Lesley and Me. Shalee, alluded to 
just now, it is true were made not so strictly in this area, but 
in the exact geological continuation of the same veins and de- 
posits on the opposite side of the Black Mountain, in a short 
distance. From all the evidence, these veins lie so nearly 
horizontal, without fault or displacement of a serious nature, 
on both sides of Black Mountain, that the reading for one side 
with but slight modifications is the reading for the other ; 
and this view of the case is borne out by the investigations of 
careful men. Thus, Lee County, in common with Josh Bell 
and Harlan counties of Kentucky, contains some of the finest 
known veins of bituminous, splint, and cannel coals. Out of 
the eight or nine workable seams above water level the coal 
in two are known to be of that variety which will smelt ores 
raw, while the quantity of the ordinary flaming bituminous 
coal is without limit. 

From all these examinations we are to conclude that there 
are from fifteen to eighteen coal seams in all, comprised with- 
in the lower, middle, and upper coal measures. The lower 
measures have the reputation of giving veins which are rarely 
over three feet thick, some of which yield about one half can- 
nel coal. This I doubt from my explorations, as, from a very 
careful inspection of these lower lying beds, some of them 
exceed four feet in thickness — much of the coal being capable 
of smelting ores raw. The middle measures present beds 
seven feet thick and over, and in these measures the thickest 
cannel coal veins may be looked for. 

No analysis of these coals yet inspected shows more than 
four per cent, of ash, and the trials made of them recently, by 



216 LEE CO. — IEON OKES. 

expert practical men in Pennsylvania, give them a higher 
reputation in every respect, for coking and general purposes, 
than any other known coals. 

The North Fork of Powell's Kiver, which derives all its 
waters from this section of Lee County, flows out into the 
main Powell's Valley through North Fork, or Pennington's 
Gap ; and it is through this gap that this fine coal area is ren- 
dered accessible throughout its extent by easy grades descend- 
ing to a common point, at the above-mentioned gap. 



IRON OEES. 

Fossil Red Ores. 

At Pennington's Forge, Pennington's Gap, these ores have 
been practically proven to be of high grade. The iron made 
from them has frequently been bent double while cold, with- 
out showing fracture. The localities of these ores are in 
Poor Valley Ridge, Waldin's Ridge, and a section of Powell's 
Mountain, which that part of the south side of the county 
overlaps in taking in a portion of Blackwater Creek. 

Through a great part of the county, Poor Valley Ridge, 
which lies next to the Cumberland Mountain on the north 
side of the county, is about eight and a quarter miles from 
Waldin's Ridge, which flanks Powell's Mountain on its north 
side ; the latter marking for about twenty miles the south- 
eastern boundary of the county. 

These ridges, Poor Valley Ridge and "Waldin's Ridge, so 
well known as fossil red iron ore-bearing localities, while 
maintaining the above-mentioned average distance from each 
other through the middle part of the county, converge toward 
each other as you aiDproach the Wise County line, so that 
when nearly at the northeastern limit of the county there 
begins that great grouping of iron ores, coal measures, and 



LEE CO. — BROWN IRON ORES. 



217 



o 







a o 
3" 



Hamilton , ■ 
Marcellus (.720 Ft 
Black Slate-) | 

&.0 




— ,13 inches 
Hard Sandstone! 
250 Ft. ) 

^ejj^^imjiiis £ ,t S 120 Ft 



Limestone 190"Ft. 

~arav~SahdstoneT 15 ft. 

Hard Bmnvti Re d S. 48 



Ft. 



limestones characteristic of the neighborhood of Big Stone 
Gap. 

The appended sections will show 
the ores in Poor Valley Ridge near 
Pennington's Gap ; while those in 
Waldin's Ridge and Powell's Moun- 
tain have the same general thick- 
ness, but dip at an angle of about 
thirty degrees almost invariably 
to the southeast or south-south- 
east. 

Again, near Boone's Path Post 
Office in Poor Valley Kidge, as well 
as in the ridges near Cumberland 
Gap, these ores show in measures 
similar to those in the section 
taken southwest of North Pork 
Gap. The ores from this place 
have been extensively used at 
Bales' or Bowling Green Forge, 
in connection with the brown ores 
mined at the forge, and have given 
very great satisfaction. 

It would be idle to attempt to 
estimate the quantity of red ore in 
these veins. Iu Poor Valley Ridge 
the outcrop is placed at about 180 
feet elevation above the water in 
the neighboring creeks. In Wal- 
din's Ridge and Powell's Moun- 
tain this elevation is about 400 
feet — sometimes as much as 600 
feet — above water level in the 
creeks. It may then be safely assumed that large quantities 






^5 



Gray Slates A 

S hales 180 Ft, 
ctiu ,, «m i ia. .,. „ | J 2 inches 
Slates Shales Ac 1 90 Ft. 

^. ■ .l-,..i,..i,i,. _ .. . ,.„„ ;j i,_ ( .| leS 

|y- ! ' - ^rar ?vi_ i(,i s. 90 Ft, 

Heep lied S, f 16 Ff 



Reddish Sh ales 150 Ft t 
Hudson Rof ks 




«M 



213 LEE CO. — LIMESTONE. 

of ore will be stripped above water level. In fact, so great 
will be this quantity tliat many years must elapse, after 
regular mining operations are commenced, before it becomes 
necessary to mine below water level. 

Brown Iron Ore. 

Brown hematite shows more conspicuously at Bales' or 
Bowling Green Forge than at any other point so far as devel- 
oped. Here it shows a width of twenty feet by an unknown 
depth. 

In the ridges to the south and east of White Shoals in 
Powell's Ptiver there are considerable surface quantities of 
manganiferous brown ores. The ores at Bales' or Bowling 
Green Forge are in the Lower Silurian limestones, and may 
be indicative of those sulphureted strata below which yield 
such quantities of zinc blende farther down Powell's Biver in 
Tennessee. 

An examination of the south face of Waldin's Bidge and 
Powell's Mountain reveals the presence of brown ores belong- 
ing to the Oriskany sub-epoch ; but their quantity has not 
been ascertained with any degree of accuracy. 

LEAD AND ZESTC. 

The measures containing the associated strata of lead and 
zinc ores do not anywhere come to the surface in Lee County. 

It is probable they are as near emergence at Bales' as at 
any other point. Should these strata preserve a uniform 
character along Powell's Valley, the day will come when zinc 
blende will be mined several hundred feet below the surface, 
in the line of limestone strata passing Bales'. 

LTMESTONE. 

Limestone abounds in Lee County. There is very little 
showing below the McLurea strata. The most of it is the 



LEE CO. — TIMBER. 219 

Hudson Kiver, and in the line near the coal measures, the 
Sub-Carboniferous limestone. The latter is usually a fine 
gray, compact, and sometimes highly carbonaceous rock, well 
adapted to any purpose for which limestone is used, whether 
it be for fluxing in furnaces, for burning into lime, or for 
building purposes. 

There are occasional bands of stone near the lower part of 
the Hudson River series, of such variegated colors as to have 
the appearance of marble. It has not been fully tested. 

BAEYTES, 

There are occasional beds of barytes in the county. 

KAOLIN, 

or rather fire-clay, is found in large quantities in the coal 
veins. Some of it has a high character for refractory pur- 
poses. Its great quantity is an important item, should the 
quality prove sufficiently good for making fire-brick. 

TIMBER. 

The timber of Lee will form one of its most important re- 
sources in the event of transportation being supplied. 

There are large quantities of walnut, maple, cedar, etc., 
throughout Powell's Valley. On the waters of the North 
Fork of Powell's River there are large boundaries of fine 
cherry, poplar, chestnut oak, white oak, hickory, ash, and 
other trees common to this latitude. The seemingly bound- 
less forests stretch for miles unbroken. Their gigantic size, 
no less than their wonderful beauty and luxuriance, are calcu- 
lated to impress the beholder unused to such scenes. The 
cedars of the lower portion of the county are wonderful for 
their size and number. 



220 LEE CO. — SCENERY. 

WATER POWER. 

Powell's Eiver and tributaries afford an immense number 
of fine water powers. To attempt to enumerate them would 
only end in showing that about every three miles of the river, 
and much less on such creeks as Waldin's Creek, Graybill, 
Indian, Blackwater, and North Fork, there are good mill 
sites which can employ the use of discharges varying be- 
tween sixty and two hundred and fifty cubic feet per second 
for the river, and about twenty to fifty feet per second for the 
tributaries ; the lesser measure for the river being up near 
the northeastern limit of the county. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The system of agriculture employed in Lee County is that 
which is now common throughout this section of Virginia. 
Many of the farms in Powell's Valley are well adapted to 
grass, and, consequently, are principally devoted to cattle 
raising. There is much of the soil in which an important 
constituent is a felspathic flint, perhaps a lime and soda 
felspar. All such soils have been found to be peculiarly 
susceptible to improvement by the use of plaster as a fer- 
tilizer. In growing wheat these lands have a reputation. 

Lee County makes a large average yield of corn per acre 
throughout the county, while the wheat made is a fine firm 
grain, of the kind much sought after by the mills which ship 
their flour to southern ports. 

The system of agriculture pursued, like that in use in 
neighboring counties, will eventually change for the better 
under the stimulus of increased means of cheap and abun- 
dant transportation. 

SCENERY. 

The scenery of Lee is picturesque, but usually softer than 
that of many of its neighbors. It is not wanting in such fine 



LEE CO. — MANUFACTURES. 221 

pictures as are presented at Pennington's Gap, Cumberland 
Gap, and numerous lovely stretches of woodland and moun- 
tain scenery to which the river lends an additional charm. 

Some of the caves in the great limestone belt of Powell's 
Valley are among the most marvelous in the world for their 
great extent and wonderful beauty. One, a few miles from 
Jonesville, the county site, is said to rival the Mammoth 
Cave in extent, and to far exceed the Luray in gorgeous 
splendor of decoration. 

ARCHEOLOGY. 

The archaeology of the section of Lee County about Eobert 
Ely's — between Walnut Hill and Kose Hill — is highly inter- 
esting. The Mound Builders once lived here, and have left 
some conspicuous marks of their existence. One of the 
mounds excavated a few years since by Prof. Carr, of tho 
Peabody Museum of Boston, gave several interesting speci- 
mens of the remains, entire, of adults and children, together 
with ornaments of different kinds. In making these exca- 
vations, both Prof. Carr and his able assistant, Mr. 
Charles Johnson, of that vicinity, nearly lost their lives by 
the sides of the excavation falling in upon them. Over this 
mound these gentlemen found the remains of a walnut tree, 
of larger than medium size, known to have been living within 
the memory of citizens now residing in the neighborhood. 

It is probable the walnut tree exceeded three hundred 
years in age. Should the remains of this tree be found over 
other such mounds it may be assumed that they were planted 
intentionally by these people. In that case, these Mound 
Builders would not have been extinct more than three hun- 
dred years. 

MANUFACTUEES. 

One furnace, capable of making six tons of pig metal, was 
built at Cumberland Gap previous to 1861, and was rebuilt 



222 LEE CO. — LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

in 1865 by a Cincinnati company, but is not now in blast. 
This furnace used the fossil red ores of Poor Valley Ridge 
mainly, which then yielded sixty per cent, of metal, some- 
times drawing from a measure of brown ores, seemingly local, 
lying between Poor Valley Eidge and Cumberland Moun- 
tain. 

Bales', or Bowling Green Forge, in the western section of 
the county on Martin's Creek, has been in blast for many 
years, using ores from a large deposit of brown ores close 
by, as well as from the fossil or dyestone ores in Poor Valley 
Eidge, near Boone's Path P. O. This forge runs, generally, 
only in the winter months, making about three hundred 
pounds per day. 

Pennington's forge, 

Actively in operation during the winter months since 1865, 
makes bar iron from the fossil red iron ores in Poor Valley 
Eidge adjacent. This forge is situated on the North Fork 
of Powell's Eiver, in North Fork Gap, and has the reputation 
of making a bar that will bend flat double when cold without 
showing a flaw. 

Outside of the furnaces and forges, the manufactories are 
confined to a few carding machines and a few good tanneries, 
one of which, located near Jonesville, makes so fine an article 
of leather as to find a ready market among the best brands in 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. 

There are grist and saw-mills in the county sufficient for 
present needs. 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

There are now no railways in Lee County. The Eichmond 
and Southwestern Eailway proposes to extend an arm of its 
great road through the county its greatest length, from Wise 



LEE CO. — CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, ETC. 223 

County down Powell's River, via Jonesville, toward Cumber- 
land Gap. This road coming, as it will, from the deep water 
on the seaboard, and having such fine connections with the 
western system of railroads, will supply remarkable facilities 
to the county in the development of every species of indus- 
try, manufactures, mines, and improved agriculture. 

The Bristol Coal and Iron Eailroad Company proposes to 
extend its line of road down the Powell's Valley also. This 
road is in course of construction, and will be pushed forward 
more rapidly to completion. It proposes to unite the coal 
and iron ores of Wise, Lee, and Scott counties with the 
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Eailroad at Bristol, and to 
continue its line on to the great iron deposits at Elizabethton 
in Carter County, Tennessee. 

These lines, when completed, will in a few years place Lee 
County in the front rank of advanced communities. 

FISH CULTURE. 

Fish culture has not yet attracted the attention in Lee that 
is noticeable in the counties further east. The fish native to 
these waters are black perch, redeye, catfish, the chub, 
white sucker, and horny head, with some other varieties of 
perch, perhaps. 

In a few years it will be necessary to restock the streams, 
as no care is being taken to keep up the supply. 

Bee culture and grape culture are likewise neglected, there 
being now no great incentive to perfect either branch of 
industry. 

ANNUAL SURPLUS OP CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, ETC. 

5,000 cattle, the greater proportion being stock cattle. 
6,000 sheep. 

50,000 bushels of wheat shipped down Powell's River in 
batteaux in the winter season. 



224 WISE COUNTY. 

The tobacco shipped annually now may scarcely be reck- 
oned in the list of important items. In a few years, however, 
if the spirit favoring the culture of that plant continues, the 
trade in tobacco will be very large. 

EDUCATION. 

This subject has engaged the attention of leading private 
citizens as well as the authorities, with good effect. Not only 
are the public schools kept up in very good order, but there 
are now good private schools, of which nothing more need 
be said than that they answer all the purposes of the com- 
munity, and would, under the stimulus of the prosperity re- 
sulting from increased facilities of communication and trans- 
portation, become important and of wide celebrity. 



WISE COUNTY. 

After exhausting a vocabulary of praise in trying to speak 
of the just merits of the more strictly grass counties of this 
section, it would seem that there is nothing left but to pass 
over all introduction for Wise County, and begin the bare 
description of its resources. Should this be done, with full 
reference to those resources, there would be but little need 
for any other introduction of an adulatory nature. To many 
who have examined the coal veins of Wise, and others who 
know something of all its resources, it would require an 
exceedingly strong description to meet the full measure of 
their information. No ; the difficulty will be that only par- 
tial justice will be done to the county, and an apology must 
here be offered for the meager account presented of its coal 
and timber and other valuable features. 

Wise is in the plateau of the Cumberland Mountain, having 



WISE CO. — HOW WATERED. 225 

on its northern and northwestern sides the northern bifurca- 
tion of the heavier range, and on its southern side the south- 
ern bifurcation of the same high and broad Sandstone Moun- 
tain. It is the county which holds the widely known place in 
the Cumberland Mountain called Pound Gap — a mere depres- 
sion in the crest of the mountain, whose lowest point is 
nearly 2,300 feet above sea level. All railroads projected 
through this part of Virginia, leading into Kentucky, generally 
have Pound Gap as an objective point, thus rendering Wise 
County almost always certain to be traversed either through 
the middle, or near it, by the proposed routes. 



HOW BOUNDED. 

As just now remarked, "Wise has one part of the great 
Cumberland Ridge on its northern or northwestern side, and 
another on its south side. The northern one separates it 
from Kentucky, and the southern, in part, from the counties 
of Russell and Scott in Virginia, while a part of the county 
extends over and down to Clinch River in the southeastern 
section, and down to and across Powell's River in the south- 
western portion. On the east is the new county of Dick- 
enson, and west, is the county of Lee. 

HOW WATERED. 

"Wise County gives rise to the head- waters of Powell's River, 

Gess's River, Pound River, and other forks of Russell's Pork 

of Sandy River ; the elevated plateau, a few miles northwardly 

from Gladeville, the county site, being the divide between 

the waters of Russell's Fork and those of Gess's River ; 

while Powell's River is separated from Gess's River by a 

long, high, thin ridge, running from the High Knob in the 

border of Scott, northwardly to the Cumberland Mountain. 
15 



22G WISE CO. — IRON ORES. . 

The county is well watered ; and those parts which partake 
more particularly of the limestone character — as Powell's 
River — enjoy never-failing streams, generally good all the 
year round for milling purposes ; but in the strictly sand- 
stone districts this condition is greatly modified. 

IRON ORES. 

The count}*, extending, as it does, far enough to the south- 
west to take in a part of Waldin's Ridge, is able to enumerate 
among its iron ores large quantities of fossil red ore. Per- 
haps the quantity of fossil ore is more than equal to that of 
all other iron ores known to be accessible in the county. 
While it is true that there are considerable quantities of 
brown iron ore, of that variety which is supposed to result 
from the decomposition of iron carbonate, or black band ore, 
there have not been sufficient developments as yet to set- 
tle either the question of the actual derivation of this brown 
ore or its approximate quantity. Near the tops of the 
ridges, throughout almost the whole extent of the county, 
handsome fragments of brown ore may be picked up ; but to 
positively assert that they are derived from the decomposi- 
tion of carbonate more than from sulphuret, would be taking 
too much for granted ; and, unfortunately, there have been no 
well-directed efforts at showing either the number, thickness, 
or true character of the veins from which these surface ores 
are derived. That they will, finally, be found of the gen- 
eral character of the iron ores of the same coal measures 
at other known points can scarcely be doubted. But it is in 
the neighborhood of Big Stone Gap, toward the southwestern 
corner of the county, where the most favorable conditions 
exist for the development of iron industries. At that point, a 
large proportion of such brown ores as that section of the coal 
field will yield may be brought down to a common point, 



WISE COUNTY. 



227 



LEVELS ABOVE' TIDE 



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228 WISE CO. — COAL. 

toward which botli the fossil red iron ore of Waldin's Eidge 
and the coal will all naturally gravitate, their position in 
the ground being within a few miles of each other. 

An examination of the map accompanying this book will 
readily show these conditions more clearly than any descrip- 
tion can ; and it is much to be regretted that the brown iron 
ores of that end of Powell's Valley — not in the coal measures 
— should have been so little developed so far as to leave the 
question of their quantity still in doubt. Should this ques- 
tion once be settled satisfactorily, it may readily be inferred 
that the large quantity of fossil ore would find a most con- 
venient and effectual counter-check for its possible impuri- 
ties in an abundance of pure limonite. In fact, it is grati- 
fying to know that a company of experienced Pennsylvania 
iron men are now engaged in settling this question in a most 
practicable manner. 

The accompanying section is submitted more to give an 
idea of relative positions than as a thoroughly accurate read- 
ing of the geology of that immediate locality. In it may 
also be gathered some idea of the truly fine exposures of the 
coal.* 

COAL. 

As may be seen from some of the measures recorded be- 
low in the foot-notes, Wise County is justly celebrated for its 

* In the immediate vicinity of Big Stone Gap, on Pigeon Creek and 
Looney's Creek, mentioned in the cross section, the field notes read as follows : 

At 2,075 above sea level, barometer 83° Fahrenheit, on a branch flowing south 
into Pigeon Creek, at a point 1 j miles from Big Stone Gap, on lands claimed 
by Mathias Kelly, now owned and soon to be operated by the Tinsalia Com- 
pany, found coal about 11 feet thick on a floor of slate, roof of slate 4 feet, 
overlaid with sandstone. The vein beginning at the floor measures nearly 4 
feet of bituminous coal, then 4 inches of slate, then nearly 4 feet of coal 
(bituminous), then 4 inches of slate, then nearly 4 feet of coal, mainly splint, 
up to the roof. 



WISE CO. — COAL. 229 

coal veins. Not only on the headwaters of Powell's Kiver, 
but on Gess's River and tributaries, Pound River, and on the 
streams flowing into Russell's Fork of Sandy River, a series 
of rich veins of bituminous, splint, and cannel coals are found 
lying in nearly horizontal beds, and outcropping in such a 
manner, in many places, as to plainly show their character and 
thickness, with but little labor on the part of the prospector. 
Gess's River being regarded usually as the line which most 
projected through railways are likely to take, it may be of 
interest to look closely at the facts elicited from the exam- 
inations which have been made up and down that stream. 
It is commonly supposed that the 4 to 6 feet vein, which 
shows about water level in the river near Gess's Station, is 
the lowest of that series. It may not be improper to suggest 
that this is really the second vein of consequence, number- 
ing from below, in the lower measures, the first vein — of about 
11 feet thickness — being under it less than 80 feet, while above 
this No. 2 vein of 4 to G feet are three other principal veins, 
respectively (as you ascend) 4 feet and 5 feet of bituminous 

At the Looney's Creek opening, three miles north from Big Stone Gap, 
barometer 1,940 feet, weather damp, thermometer 74° Fahrenheit, found 68 
inches of coal with a parting of 5 inches of slate near the top. Of this coal 
10 inches was splint coal, floor of slate, roof of slate, 8J feet thick up to sand- 
stone. 

At other points further toward the head of Powell's River, readings of the 
coal veins were obtained. On Black Creek, a tributary of the right-hand 
Fork of Powell's River, seven miles west-southwest from Gladeville, saw a coal 
vein 6 feet thick, floor of clay and slate. On Rocky Fork of Roaring Fork, 
2,040 feet, barometer 85° Fahrenheit, found a coal vein 7 feet 2 inches thick, 
having thin seams of splint coal, with two partings of slate 4 inches each ; 
roof of black slate 15 feet thick overlaid with sandstone ; floor of slate full 
of fossils, leading down 20 feet to another vein of coal 18 inches, which is 
bedded on sandstone. This is 8} miles west of Gladeville. Also here found a 
deposit of red iron ore of unknown extent, of peculiar structure, honeycombed, 
red, light, but some of it a close purplish gray, and heavy, very likely a 
decomposition of carbonate of iron. 



230 WISE CO. — COAL. 

coal, with tlie upper vein 4 feet of pure cannel, about 750 
feet above the level of No. 2. There is scarcely any need to 
go into a more particular description of these veins. They 
extend with but little intermission over nearly all the county, 
except that they are eroded by the streams, and the cannel 
coal, being nearer the crests of the higher ridges, does not 
occupy more than half the area that the other veins do. 

The reading of these measures is fully sustained, not only 
by the careful examinations made by the author, but Maetest 
Coeyell, Esq., an experienced and reliable mining engineer, 
gives very much the same readings, to say nothing of the 
results of earlier examinations made by Me. J. P. Lesley 
and others. 

The industrial value of the coals of Wise County can 
scarcely be overestimated. The day must surely come when 
they will be so largely employed in industries carried on in 
Virginia that their great quantity, purity, and excellence 
must make them perform a great part of that giant task 
of relieving Virginia from her pecuniary embarrassments. 
Could a large proportion of the Virginia capital, which is 
now being sent outside of the State annually for fuel, be in- 
vested in "Wise and the neighboring coal counties, it would 
be but a short time that, from this source alone, the tax-pay- 
ing power of those communities would be so increased as to 
materially alleviate the financial distress of the State, if not 
go very far toward its entire extinguishment. 

It may be as well to say, before dismissing this important 
subject, that all analyses which have been made of the coals 
of Wise County show a low percentage of ash, and a high 
percentage of combustible matter. And it would be well 
also to say, that the coals along the Pound River and the 
tributaries of Russell's Fork of Sandy Eiver, are of the same 
general character, thickness, etc., as those already described. 

We quote the following extract from the report of Peof. 



WISE CO.— COAL. 231 

Jno. J. Stevenson, professor of geology in the University of 
the City of New York : 

" The coal area is well opened up by the several branches 
of Pigeon Fork as well as by Looney Creek, Calahan's 
Creek, Canepatch Fork, and other tributaries to Eoaring 
Fork. At the immediate base of Stone Mountain the dip is 
very abrupt, but it quickly diminishes, so that on the oppo- 
site side of Soaring and Pigeon Forks it is but two degrees- 
The decrease is rapid, and within a mile the inclination of the 
beds is little more than sufficient for convenient drainage. 

" Though the streams have cut deep channel-ways so as to 
bring the coals above water level in a great part of the area, 
yet the general section was obtained with some difficulty, as 
there has been little development and the whole surface is 
covered by dense undergrowth. The intervals in the section 
may require some modification as they were measured with 
an aneroid barometer. 

" The succession as obtained is as follows : 

1. Not examined in detail 300' 

2. Coal bed 0' 4" 

3. Interval 30' 

4. Splint coal bed 15' 

5. Interval 115' 

6. Coal bed 0' 6" 

7. Interval 70' 

8. Coal bed 2' 

9. Interval 14' 

10. Splint coal bed 1' 

11. Interval 90' 

12. Coal bed 0'4" 

13. Interval 30' 

14. Coal bed 0' 10" 

15. Interval 65' 



232 WISE CO. — COAL. 

16. Coal bed 7' 3" 

17. Interval 35' 

18. Splint coal bed 3' 6" 

19. Interval ; 60' 

20. Splint coal bed 1' 6" 

21. Interval 120' 

22. Coal bed Blossom. 

23. Interval 70' 

24. Coal bed 1' 2" to 2" 

25. Interval 28' to 20' 

26. Coal bed 15' to 2" 

27. Interval 50' to 45' 

28. Coal bed 8' 5" to 6' 9" 

29. Interval 206' 

30. Coal bed 2' 

31. Interval 50' 

32. Coal bed 2' 

33. Interval 100' ? 

34. Coal bed 5' 

35. Interval to conglomerate 80' ? 

Total 1,548' 

" The exposures are most satisfactory on the tributaries of 
Calahan's Creek, a tributary to Soaring Fork. The higher 
coals are of no importance. 

" Coal bed, No. 16, is well shown on Preacher's Eun at 
about two miles above where it enters Calahan's Creek, 
where it shows 

Cannel , 2' 

Alternations of coal and shale 1' 10" 

Coal 3' 5" 

" The cannel is compact and of by no means inferior quality, 
though it may contain as much as 12 per cent, of ash. The 



WISE CO. — COAL. 233 

bituminous coal at the base of the bed is good and seems to be 
quite free from sulphur. The same bed was seen near the 
head of Calahan's Creek, where it is worthless, being in three 
benches, respectively 5, 14, and 5 inches thick, separated by 
10 and 7 feet of shale. 

" Coal bed, No. 18, was seen on Preacher's Eun and near the 
head of Calahan's Creek. At the former locality, near two 
miles above the mouth of the Eun, it is 3' 6" thick, and is 
splint coal of superior excellence. The roof is a hard sand- 
stone. On Calahan's Creek it is but 18 inches thick and is 
worthless. Fragments of the coal from this bed were seen on 
Looney Creek, but the bed itself is concealed. 

" No. 20 was seen on Preacher's Eun and Looney Creek, but 
its place is concealed at all other localities examined. On 
Looney Creek it is 4' 6" thick, and is well exposed in the 
bank of the stream at about three miles above its mouth. 
The coal is clean and evidently an excellent splint. The same 
bed is shown at the forks of Preacher's Eun, two miles above 
its mouth, where it is from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches thick and 
is a good splint coal, though the quality seems to be hardly 
equal to that of the coal on Looney Creek. The blossom of 
this bed was seen near the crest of the hill overlooking the 
mouth of Looney Creek. At all localities the bed has an ex- 
cellent roof and it can be worked very easily. 

"Coal bed, No. 26, is persistent but exceedingly variable. It 
has been opened on Pigeon Fork at probably two thirds of a 
mile above the mouth of the stream, where the structure is 

Coal 6' 10" 

Shale 010" 

Coal 2' 5" 

Shale 0' 2" to 5" 

Coal 4' 6" 

Total W 10" 



234 WISE CO. — COAL. 

A similar structure is shown on the first branch of Pigeon 
Fork. At both exposures the upper division is slaty and in- 
ferior ; the middle division is prismatic and cokes well ; the 
lower division is a good splint coal, though toward the base 
it becomes somewhat slaty. On Looney Creek, only the 
middle and lower divisions are present, the upper one having 
been removed by a horseback ; the coal of those divisions 
shows the same features as on Pigeon Creek, though the 
middle division is better, and is packed in sacks to a distance 
of several miles for the use of blacksmiths. On Kelly's Run 
and Church House Run, branches of Calahan's Creek, the 
bed is thin, probably not more than two feet, while on 
Preacher's Run it is but two inches. It is 10 inches thick 
on Calahan and the coal is poor. An imperfect exposure was 
found on a branch of Roaring Fork, at, say, a mile above the 
mouth of Calahan, where the bed seems to be very thick. 

" Coal bed, No. 28, is the most important and least variable 
of the whole series. It was seen on Pigeon Fork and one of 
itL, branches, on Church House, Kelly's and Preacher's Runs, 
as well as on Lewis's Branch of Roaring Fork at about three 
miles above the head of Big Stone Gap. No exposure was 
found on Looney Creek or on Calahan, the bed being con- 
cealed at the level of those creeks. On Church House Run 
an opening shows 

Coal 3' 10" 

Shale 0' 5" 

Coal 3' 6" 

7' 9" 

The top of the bed for 11 inches is a hard slaty splint, but 
the remainder of the upper bench is very soft and some of it 
has a prismatic structure. The lower bench is less soft. An 
exposure near the mouth of Preacher's Run shows : 



WISE CO. — THE IRON ORES. 235 

Coal 2' 8" 

Parting 

Coal 1' 

Shale 0' 3" 

Coal. 3' 



6' 11 



At a mile further up the creek the bed shows the same struc- 
ture, but is only 6 feet 9 inches thick. A small rick of coke 
made here proves that the coal will burn into a compact sil- 
very coke of great strength. On Kelly's Fork the bed is some- 
what larger, the benches being 4 feet 5 inches and 3 feet 9 
inches respectively, separated by three inches of shale. The 
bed is nearly 8 feet thick on Lewis's Branch of Roaring Fork. 

" The lower coals of the series are unimportant. The lowest 
coal was seen only in the bed of Pigeon Fork very near the 
base of the Stone Mountain, where the dip is nearly 60 de- 
grees. 

" The intervals between the coal beds are occupied almost 
wholly by sandstone, most of which is compact. Limestone 
is almost wholly wanting. 

"THE IRON ORES. 

"Three beds of the fossiliferous ore were found in the Poor 
Valley, between Poor Valley Ridge and Stone Mountain. 
The highest one is exposed in the bank of Powell's River at 
about 200 yards above the ford leading to the Big Stone Gap, 
where it is from 5 to 8 inches thick. This bed was not traced, 
but it clearly follows the bottom for a long distance, and lies 
east from the river below the ford leading to Cedar Gap 
Church. The dip is north-northwest at 56 degrees. 

"The second bed was seen on Mr. Horton's property at 



236 WISE CO. — THE IEON ORES. 

about a mile and a half from the Big Stone Gap. There it 
shows 

Hard ore 3 

Medium ore 0' 8" 

Hard ore 1' 

Soft ore 2 6'' 



7' 2" 



The strike here is not far from north 40° east Mag., and the 
dip is 45 degrees toward the northwest. The exposure is con- 
tinuous for a long distance, and the soft ore at the bottom is 
very good. Doubtless the whole of the ore from this bed, ex- 
cepting the very hard ore from the top, could be utilized in 
a furnace. 

" A third bed was seen near the Cedar Gap Church, but the 
exposure is somewhat indefinite, and the soft ore seems to be 
present in comparatively small quantity. 

" The lower two beds are present on the north side of "Wal- 
din's Bidge, but the ore was not found in place. Large frag- 
ments of it occur plentifully on the side of the mountain, and 
the beds could be discovered without serious difficulty. 

" The fossiliferous ore is present on the south of Waldin's 
Kidge. A bed was found on the Preston tract at less than 
four miles from Big Stone Gap, which is 25 inches thick and 
dips eastward at but 10 degrees. Its outcrop can be followed 
round and on both sides of a low ridge separating two hol- 
lows, and the ore can be mined with equal ease on the side of 
a similar ridge lying immediately west. It is not too much 
to assume that there are 500 acres of good ore land on this 
tract. The most of this lies under thin cover, and much of 
the ore can be obtained by stripping. Drifting, however, can 
be performed easily, as the ore can be opened so that the 
mines will drain themselves. 



WISE CO. — THE IRON ORES. 237 

" At a little way further south westward along the face of the 
riclge another and possibly a lower bed of the ore was seen, 
which shows 

Soft ore 2' 

Hard ore 2' 2 " 



4' 2" 

overlying one foot of ferruginous shale. This rests on a flag- 
gy sandstone, and the roof of the ore is a clay shale which can 
be removed easily. The soft ore is double, the upper part 
for somewhat more than one foot being extremely soft, so that 
it could be removed with a spade, while the lower part is 
made up of the ordinary ore. The hard ore is very hard and 
shows few fossils. This bed is hardly so favorably situated 
as the other, for the dip is directly away from the exposure. 
Still a drift could be so arranged that an enormous quantity 
of the ore could be won without resort to artificial drainage. 
The hollow is a long one, and the ore can be stripped to a dis- 
tance of fifteen feet from the outcrop without much trouble. 

" The fossil ores occur also on the south face of Powell's 
Mountain south from the Ward's Mill or Slemp's Gap. This 
area is known as the Kane survey, and, by the proposed rail- 
road, is about fourteen miles from the Big Stone Gap. Three 
beds were seen there. The top one is thin, very silicious, 
and of little value. The second bed has been opened so as 
to show its structure, which is 

Ore 2' 

Shale 1' 

Limestone and ore 0' 5" 

Shale 0' 4" 

Ore 0'5" 

Shale 0'4" 

Ore 1' 



238 WISE CO. — LIMESTONE. 

The ore is good and would doubtless repay the cost of drift- 
ing ; but it is leaner than the ores of Waldin's Ridge and 
Poor Valley, which have been described already. The third 
bed is at about 50 feet below this and shows 

Very soft ore 1' 3" 

Hard ore 1' 6" 

The ore is evidently lean, but it can be mined very cheaply as 
the face of Powell's Mountain is cut by many deep and long 
ravines, which expose the beds. 

" The Lower Helderberg rocks along the valley between 
Waldin's Eidge and Powell's Mountain, as well as the valley 
between Stone Mountain and Powell's Mountain, yield some 
hrovm hematite. Two horizons of this ore were seen, but no 
estimate respecting the quantity can be made until after sys- 
tematic exploration of the property. The ore is very good 
at some localities, and much of it was mined on the Collier 
tract, now belonging to the company, which was reduced in a 
furnace below Ward's Mill. 

" LIMESTONE. 

" The lower Carboniferous limestone is shown in sharply 
dipping cliffs on both sides of Big Stone Gap, and extends 
along the south face of Stone Mountain, from the Little Stone 
Gap westward to beyond Pennington's Gap, near the Tennes- 
see line. It is shown as a cliff on the north side of Powell's 
Mountain from the Little Stone Gap to the "Ward's Mill Gap, 
where the North Pork of Clinch Paver breaks through the 
mountain. 

" The Helderberg limestones, which are well shown in the 
Poor Valley at but a little way above the Cedar Gap Church, 
and in a line of low hills almost directly opposite the Big 
Stone Gap, are for the most part silicious ; but near the top 



WISE CO. — GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCES. 239 

of the lower division of the limestone a thin bed was seen 
which is of good quality. 

" The Trenton limestone is not reached within the area con- 
trolled by the company, but is well exposed for miles along 
the north side of Waldin's Eidge west from the Cedar Gap. 

N 

" GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCES. 

" The available coal seams are four — the two splint beds, the 
15 foot and the 8 foot bed. Eventually the cannel bed may 
become valuable, but at present it may be omitted. 

" The splint coals lie well up in the series, and the extent of 
area which they underlie cannot be determined by a hasty ex- 
amination ; but it can hardly be less than 5,000 acres, within 
the area drained by Calahan's Creek, and lying between that 
stream and Looney Creek. These beds yield a coal of very 
superior quality, as appears from the following analysis by 
Mr. A. S. McCreath, chemist to the Geological Survey of 
Pennsylvania. The sample was taken from the upper bed. 

Water - 0.880 

Volatile matter 37.580 

Fixed carbon 58.059 

Sulphur 0.406 

Ash 3.075 

" This coal is sufficiently pure to be used raw in the fur- 
nace, the percentage of ash and sulphur being unusually low. 

" These two beds will yield not far from 8,000 tons per acre. 
Estimating the area of easily mined coal at 5,000 acres, the 
yield will not be far from 40,000,000 tons. 

" A specimen was taken from the middle division of the 14 
foot bed, which yielded the following upon analysis by Mr. 
McCreath : 



240 WISE CO.— GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCES. 

Water 1.610 

Volatile matter 38.850 

Fixed carbon 57.879 

Sulphur 0.771 

Ash 0.890 

" As a gas coal this can hardly be excelled. It cokes read- 
ily, and the coke, if compact enough, should be of excellent 
quality. No analysis of the lower division was made ; it is a 
splint coal which will be well worth working. This bed is 
uncertain in its occurrence, and seems to attain its chief im- 
portance west of the line of Preacher's Run, having been 
found of large size only on Looney Creek aud on the waters 
of Pigeon Fork. 

" The 8 foot seam being the most persistent and least vari- 
able of the whole series, and being likely to prove the most 
valuable, as its coal yields an admirable coke, I took sam- 
ples from all the benches and directed that they be analyzed 
as one. The result, as obtained by Mr. McCreath, is as 
follows : 

Water 1.380 

Volatile matter 35.920 

Fixed carbon 60.591 

Sulphur 0.594 

Ash 1.515 

" In reference to these coals Mr. McCreath says : 
" ' The above analyses speak for themselves, and indicate 
coals of remarkable purity.' 

" This 8 foot seam will yield a coke with considerably less 
than 3 per cent of ash, and with bid little more than jive tenths of 
a per cent, of sulphur. Such would be a marvelously rich coke, 
the percentage of fixed carbon being someivhat more than 96. 
The Connellsville coke has somewhat less than 90 per cent. 



WISE CO. — GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCES. 241 

of fixed carbon, the ash is between 9 and 10 per cent., while 
the average of sulphur is about eight tenths of a per cent. 
The coke from this bed is better than that from the Oxinoor 
Works, in the Cahawba basin of Alabama, which shows 

Fixed carbon 93.253 

Sulphur 0.601 

Ash 5.380 

" A small rick of coke was made from the 8 foot seam on 
Preacher's Run. Though carelessly made in disobedience of 
the instructions, the coke proved to be of great strength. 
8,000 acres are underlain with this bed between Looney 
Creek and Roaring Creek, which will yield 64,000,000 of tons 
without resort to artificial drainage. 

" The iron ores of widest distribution are the fossil ores. No 
effort had been made previous to the time of my examination 
to secure a good exposure of these ores, and the beds were 
traced by their outcrop. Some difficulty was encountered in 
obtaining specimens which had. not been exposed for a long 
period to the weather, and collections were made only on the 
south side of Waldin's Ridge. These were sent to Mr. 
McCreath, who gives the following as the results of the 
analysis : 

No. 1. No. 2. 

Metallic iron 27.960 52.600 

Sulphur 0.024 0.018 

Phosphorus 0.064 0.116 

Insoluble residue 55.015 18.140 

" No. 2 is from the company's property on the Preston tract, 

and is precisely like the ore which the company has secured 

on the Horton tract in the Poor Valley. It is an excellent 

ore, and is present in enormous quantity. It will give an 

iron with but .22 per cent, of phosphorus. The analysis, 
10 



242 WISE CO. — GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCES. 

No. 1, is from a tract not far from Big Stone Gap. The 
sample is not a fair specimen of the ore, as it contains many 
rounded quartz pebbles ; but no other specimen could be 
obtained from the outcrop. 

" A sample of the brown hematite, found also near Big 
Stone Gap, Mr. McCreath finds to be as follows : 

Metallic iron 52.550 

Sulphur 0.037 

Phosphorus 0.051 

Insoluble residue 7.840 

" This is an excellent ore, and is well adapted to the manu- 
facture of Bessemer pig. 

" No analyses were made of the limestone at the mouth of 
Big Stone Gap. It is an excellent rock, burning into fine 
white lime, and seems to be almost free from silica. 

"All these materials are in close proximity to each other, 
and there are few localities more favorably situated for the 
manufacture of iron. Coke can be brought from the pits, 
barely two miles away, on a down grade; the fossil ore is but 
little more than one mile away, while some of the ore is dis- 
tant but three miles, and is directly on the line of the rail- 
road now in course of construction. The splint coal can be 
mined cheaply, and it can be used with the coke in the fur- 
nace. The purity of the coke and of the splint coal would 
aid in making an iron of exceptional excellence. The cost of 
making iron here may be estimated as follows : 

2.25 tons of ore at $1.40 per ton $3.15 

2 tons of coke 2.00 

1.5 tons of limestone 0.60 

Labor at furnace 1.50 

Repairs and incidentals 1.00 

"Making a total cost of $8.25 per ton, which may prove 



WISE CO. — BUILDING STONES. 243 

somewhat in excess of the absolute cost of material and 
labor. 

" A charcoal furnace could be managed to good advantage 
in connection with the larger coke furnace. The fossil ores 
have long been used in the manufacture of cold-blast char- 
coal iron, and under that treatment in the Poor Valley they 
produce a pig with but .17 per cent, of phosphorus. An 
enormous quantity of excellent coaling timber is found on 
these lands, and the charcoal could be obtained at not more 
than three dollars per hundred bushels. A small furnace of 
this kind, though not affording much direct profit, would be 
of advantage indirectly, since in the manufacture of the 
charcoal a large part of the land could be cleared and fitted 
for occupation by farmers. The region is admirably adapted 
to stock raising, while much of it lies in such a position that 
vineyards could not fail to be profitable." 

LEAD. 

Lead is sometimes found in small quantities in a stratum 
of limestone belonging in the coal measures, but not in suffi- 
cient quantities to attract the attention *of miners. 

SLLVER. 

Silver is now and then observed in the quartz pebbles com- 
posing the conglomerates, and may be found at some points 
in respectable quantities. It is hardly to be expected that 
any reliable data will ever be gathered upon which extensive 
mining operations will be based, looking to silver mining as 
a profitable source of investment. 

BUILDING STONES. 

The sandstone ledges in a great many parts of Wise re- 
semble those of Buchanan County in the cheapness with 



2M WISE CO. — AGRICULTURE. 

which they can be quarried a,nd made ready for use in any 
desired shape or size. Much of this stone is so soft in the 
quarry as to readily admit of being cut with a knife, but 
upon sufficient exposure, becoming quite hard and durable. 



TIMBER. 

Upon this subject too much cannot be said of the variety 
and beauty of fine woods in the county. 

Cherry is very common in the Big Black Mountain, toward 
the northeastern side of the county. Its abundance is one 
of its great features. Of all other trees known to the lati- 
tude — prominent among which is poplar, or the great Ameri- 
can tulip tree — there is such great abundance as to appear 
totally beyond the possibility of extermination. The girth 
and length of trunk of the trees in these vast and almost 
boundless forests are surprising. Oftentimes the poplars 
are found 6 and 8 feet in diameter and sometimes larger, 
with long straight trunks 75 or 80 feet without a limb. The 
cherry trees are also surprisingly large and beautiful. 

AGRICULTURE. 

Agriculture in connection with sheep raising would yield a 
more certain return on a large scale than any other branch 
of farming. That section of the county on Powell's River 
below Big Stone Gap, mostly limestone, is well adapted to 
any description of farming, being similar in this respect to 
that part of the county in Clinch River near Wheeler's 
Ford ; but the greater part is composed of sandstone ridges 
and plateaus, which seem to sustain sheep better than cattle ; 
besides from their steepness in many places presenting poorer 
facilities for all kinds of farming than the more level lands 
on the river do. Notwithstanding this fact, these lands pro- 



WISE CO. — SCHOOLS. 245 

duce corn well, appearing to be very fertile. Sweet and 
Irish potatoes do well. 

MANUFACTURES. 

It may well be inferred, that without railway or other im- 
proved modes of transportation, there has been but little 
encouragement to engage in manufacturing enterprises. At 
Big Stone Gap a company has recently secured large areas 
of coal, timber, and iron ore lands, with a view of erecting 
furnaces for the production of metal on a large scale ; but it 
is not supposed that the works will be put actively into 
operation until the Bristol Coal and Iron Railroad, and the 
Richmond and Southern Railway are built. 

At Three Forks of Powell's Riyer, just below Big Stone 
Gap, there is one of the very few pottery establishments in 
Virginia. It is true it is not on a large scale, but if kept up 
until the contemplated railway lines are built, there is no 
reason why it could not largely increase its working capacity. 
Mr. Wolf, the proprietor, deserves much credit for the excel- 
lent drain pipes his factory makes, besides pottery of various 
patterns. It is very probable that the carboniferous strata 
close by furnish the clay used. Drain pipes are sold there 
at 15 cents per foot. 

The streams, except Powell's River, being rather incon- 
stant during much of the year, there are few other manufac- 
turing enterprises worthy of note, except grist and saw-mills. 

schools. 

Wise County depends mainly upon her public schools for 
instruction, and the population as yet being sparse, the suc- 
cess which attends the system in other parts of the State is 
not so marked in Wise. This, however, is a small matter ; 
for as soon as the mining facilities of the county are once 



246 DICKENSON COUNTY. 

utilized to any extent, the consequent increase in population 
and revenues will enable the Superintendent of Education to 
place the county upon an admirable footing. The same may 
be said of the other counties contiguous. 

TRADE IN CATTLE, ETC. 

Wise County sells annually about 2,000 head of stock cattle 
and 3,300 head of sheep. 

There is still a considerable trade in ginseng, herbs of dif- 
ferent kinds, and wool. It will not be forgotten by the reader 
that there are no developments yet of the coal and iron of 
this county, hence the trade of every kind is very small. The 
culture of the grape and of bees is a question of much inter- 
est in certain parts of the county. 



DICKENSON COUNTY. 

Dickenson is a new county lying between the counties of 
Buchanan and Wise, and was formed by Act of Legislature, 
session 1879-80, from the two counties named. 

It is a small county, as may be seen by referring to the 
map ; but it has a wealth of fine bituminous, splint, and can- 
nel coals, unsurpassed by the same area anywhere. The 
timber is truly magnificent, and stretches in an almost un- 
broken forest all over the county. The poplar trees are fine 
and very numerous. There is also a great deal of walnut, 
white oak, and other valuable woods. The county produces 
corn and sweet potatoes well, and ranges a good many cattle 
and sheep. The scenery of the county is very imposing here 
and there, especially that in the deep canon about the breaks 
of the Cumberland Mountain, in the lower or northern end of 
the county, on Kussell's Fork of Sandy River, by which stream 
the county is chiefly watered. 







o -^< 



BUCHANAN CO. — HOW WATERED. 247 

BUCHANAN COUNTY. 

The description of this county will be mostly confined to 
an account of its coal and timber. Its land is almost with- 
out exception sandy. In many parts the loamy character of 
the soil renders it very fertile ; but greater care has to be 
taken to keep it up to its original strength than the limestone 
soils. The salt of Buchanan would prove an important item 
if developed. The rocks appear to dip in such a way as to 
form several basins, fully capable of holding sufficient of the 
drainage from the salt-bearing series of rocks for all purposes 
of salt-making on a large scale. The scenery of this county 
here and there is grand and beautiful in the extreme. At 
the breaks of the Cumberland Mountain on Bussell's Fork 
of Sandy River, this is the case in an eminent degree, pre- 
senting a piece of scenery rarely met with this side of the 
Rocky Mountains. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Buchanan is one of the extreme border counties of the 
State, in the great plateau of the Cumberland Mountains, hav- 
ing Kentucky on the north and northwest, West Virginia on 
the east, Tazewell and Russell counties, Va., on the south, and 
Wise County, Va., on the west. The main Cumberland Ridge 
is its northern and northwestern boundary line ; its southern 
the Sandy Ridge or southern bifurcation of the Cumberland 
Mountain ; its eastern line is on a great dividing ridge 
between the waters of the Louisa and Dry Forks of Sandy 
River, and its western line is an irregular one, soon to be dis- 
turbed by the laying off of the new county of Dickenson. 

HOW WATERED. 

The southern boundary line of the county, in following the 
general crest of the Sandy Ridge, divides the waters of Sandy 



248 BUCHANAN CO. — GEOLOGY. 

Eiver from those of Clinch River, Sandy River having two of 
its branches — the Louisa . Fork and Russell's Fork — to take 
their source in the southern part of the county, and flow 
northwardly into Kentucky ; the former watering the eastern 
part of the county, and the latter the western portion. These 
two streams are constant the year round, but are too low in 
summer, except at their lower ends, to be relied upon to run 
machinery. There are some grist-mills on them and their 
tributaries, however, which seem to run with some regular- 
ity, except in very dry weather. 

GEOLOGY. 

As to the geology of Buchanan, the rocks, as they now 
show on the surface, indicate the Sub-Carboniferous as the 
true period ; yet it is singular, that at the bottom of the 
series here there should be a vein of coal 10 feet thick. 
Not more singular than that Russell County, near by, should 
show one feet 4 inches thick at the base of the series 
there. There are so few disturbances or faults worthy of 
notice in the rock formation in this county, that a description 
of the series of rocks, veins, etc.*, at one point may be taken 
as a fair reading of nearly the whole. There are variations 
in the strata, it is true, but for Sub-Carboniferous measures 
they run with surprising regularity for miles. The fossil 
remains of plants and trees are quite common here and 
there, such as ferns, rushes, grasses, lepidodendra, sigil- 
larise, etc. The dip of the rocks, except in the extreme 
northwestern part of the county, is but gently inclined from 
the horizontal. The rocks are almost wholly sandstone, 
shales, and slates, interstratified with veins of coal and occa- 
sional thin bands of iron ore, either as sulphuret or carbon- 
ate. Now and then you meet with limestone, as on the 
divide between the head-waters of Big Prater Creek and the 



BUCHANAN CO.— COAL. 249 

waters of Russell's Fork, and at Countz's on Lick Creek. 
This limestone sometimes shows lead ore, but it is doubtful 
whether that will ever be found in sufficient quantities to 
justify working. 

IRON OEES. 

The iron ores of Buchanan County, as they appear on the 
surface, are mainly brown ores, very often alluded to as hy- 
drated peroxides. They result from the decomposition of 
carbonates and sulphurets, and may be found near the crests 
of nearly all the ridges in the county. Toward the western 
side of the county there seems to be the greatest quantity. 

It does not appear from the amount showing on the sur- 
face that the undecomposed veins are very thick ; perhaps in 
some instances eighteen inches or two feet ; and so few are 
the developments that it is now impossible to tell their true 
character. There are no other ores of iron observable in the 
county, except here and there a piece of undecomposed sul- 
phuret. 

No manganese worthy of notice has been shown by actual 
development ; but this is not saying there are no manganese 
ores in the county. 

COAL. 

Besides timber, coal is the principal feature in the county. 
The heavier workable measures seem to lie near the tops of 
the hills, except on Connoway Creek, near the northern line 
of the county, where the accompanying section was taken. 
There the same veins, that show at somewhat higher levels 
farther south, are nearer the creek. The coal is almost with- 
out exception flaming bituminous in all the veins. Toward 
the western boundary of the county it assumes the appear- 
ance of that variety which is used for smelting iron ores 
raw. This series of veins lying nearly flat throughout the 



250 



BUCHANAN CO. — COAL. 



Vertical Section-Conway Creek 



40C 
375 

300 
1230 
1175 

1100 



Strata 



anna 



Kinds & Thickness of 
Rock & Coal 



Top of Ridge 
Sandstone 

Slate' 
(Joal 9 in. 



Slates &~ Sandstones 



Sandstone 
Coal 4 Ft. 
Slate (Blue) 



Slates & Sandstones 



Slate 

Coal 31 in. 

Slate 

Slate & Sandstones 

Coal i Ft.3 in. 

Goal 5 in. 
Coal3Ft. 10 in. 

Slate k Sandstone 



B 

C 
D 



Slate 

Coal 22,' i in. 
Slate 
Sandstone — 



E 

Water Level 



Coal 10" Ft. 



Louisa River 

F 



Shales & Sandstone 
Conglomerate 
Thin Coal 
Sandstones' 
Conglomerate 
Sandstones & Shales 
Mountain Limestone 

From the mountain limestone 

1100 feet approximately 
down to the Coal Oil Rock 



THE MOSS ENGRAVING CO.N'Yj 



Buchanan County. 



greater part of the county, 
and the rock material being 
uniform in character, the 
county is marked by a to- 
pography which is also uni- 
form in its character. The 
elements in the course of 
time have imprinted the 
same features over the whole 
area, leaving deep hollows 
at intervals rarely ever ex- 
ceeding two miles, in every 
one of which may be found 
more or less water, whole- 
some and pure. These hol- 
lows have sufficiently slop- 
ing sides to permit of the 
adoption of lines of roadway 
by side cutting of any grade 
desirable, or the location of 
shutes. The tops of the hills 
generally range from 800 to 
1,000 feet above the main 
longitudinal section of the 
streams. Referring to the 
cross section, the coal veins 
there lettered will yield ap- 
proximately as follows : 

Coal vein A, like the others, 
a bituminous 
coking coal, 
with such a 
small percent- 



BUCHANAN CO. — SALT. 251 

age of sulphur as not to be noticed. Ash not 
over 4 per cent., and fixed carbon over 70 per 
cent.; will yield per acre 6,780 tons of 2,240 
pounds per ton. 
Coal vein B, 4,3S0 tons per acre. 

" C, about 7,200 tons per acre. 
D, " 6,500 " 
Aggregating nearly 25,000 tons per acre. 
Veins E and F are hardly necessary to calculate, one being 
thin, and the other, though thick, is below water level. 

In the southern part of the county the veins measuring 4 
feet thick are near the crests of the ridges. On Beech 
Branch, a small tributary of Lick Creek, and near Noah 
Countz's, at an elevation of 1,765 feet above sea level, one 
of the veins has the following dimensions, accompanying 
rocks, etc. : 58 inches thick, with 4 inches of slate parting 
near the middle ; floor of slate ; roof of slate 5 feet thick ; 
then above this 4 inches of slaty coal ; then 8 inches of coal ; 
then 18 inches of slate ; then 13 inches of sandy iron ore 
overlaid with sandstone. 

Such readings could be repeated with but slight variations 
in many parts of the county. The dip is usually gentle in 
any direction. 

SALT. 

The salt-bearing series may be regarded as one of the valu- 
able features, and the brine is likely to be reached in less 
than 500 feet below the level of Louisa or Russell's Fork, 
wherever any basin may be found in which the rocks dip 
toward a common center. Such a basin exists at Sand Lick, 
near the junction of Lick Creek with Russell's Fork of Sandy 
River. In fact much salt has been made there by boiling 
the water caught at one of the brine seeps in sunken barrels 
and hogsheads. 



252 BUCHANAN CO. — WATER POWER. 

BUILDING STONES. 

The building stones of Buchanan are in endless quantity, 
confined to a variety of sandstone found all over the county 
i in several ledges. It is a well-known fact among the citizens 
of the county, that they can open a quarry a few hundred 
yards from their homes in almost any of the hills, in which 
they can obtain stones of great size, so soft when first ex- 
posed as to admit of being hewn into any desirable shape, 
even with a common axe. 

TIMBER. 

Buchanan has all the different varieties of timber known 
to this latitude, not only in great quantity, but the growth is 
usually of the best character. The girth of poplar trees 
frequently measures from 13 to 18 feet ; ash trees, 7 feet, 
and all others proportionately large. To say that the trunks 
of the poplars are frequently 60 feet without a limb would 
be very likely under the mark than above it. This tree 
seems to be in its most congenial latitude here, and not only 
attains a fine size, but is more plentiful than any other except 
the beech and white oak. There is a great deal of walnut, 
linn, buckeye, and sugar tree ; and the growth is so uniform 
over the county that one locality can scarcely claim any 
superiority over another. 

Along and near to the larger water-courses a good deal of 
poplar timber has been cut and rafted down to the Ohio 
River ; but, as compared to the whole, it is really a small per- 
centage. There are yet remaining immense areas of virgin 
forest where nothing has been cut. In many places the wal- 
nut trees are very thick. 

WATER POWER. 

As has been remarked before, the streams are not constant 
through the summer ; consequently reliable water powers 



BUCHANAN CO. — SCENEEY. 253 

are scarce. Russell's Fork near " Tlie Breaks " would give a 
good and constant power, but nowhere else in the county 
could a large volume of Avater be had in dry weather. The 
streams, though they get very low, seem never to go dry ; 
and in the deep pools you find along their courses there are 
yet quantities of fine fish — black bass, redeye, pike, etc. 

AGEICULTUEE. 

Though the county is essentially a mountain plateau, cut 
and seamed in every direction by the canons in which flow 
the streams, the steep land is usually fertile, very much so 
indeed for sandy land. It produces corn and oats well. 
Wheat and rye have a fair average yield, and sweet potatoes 
seem to be in their native clime. 

There are good-sized herds of cattle turned out annually 
to range in the woods, where they do well. The whole area 
of the county would suit admirably for sheep-growing or for 
the Angora goat. 

SCENEEY. 

Occasionally the scenery is very fine. A sketch of what 
is familiarly known as "The Towers," on Russell's Fork of 
Sandy River, has been attempted ; but no one could give 
even a fair idea on paper of the beautiful scene presented by 
these high cliffs and rocks as they rear their lofty crests 
nearly 600 feet above the stream below. It is a wild place, 
still inhabited by an occasional wolf, perhaps the last of his 
race in that quarter. 

The fruits of Buchanan are generally more certain annu- 
ally than in some of her sister counties. The peach tree 
thrives well, and is a crop of great importance in the county. 
Ginseng, though one of the herbs, has been in the past a 
source of considerable revenue to the peoj)le of the county. 



254 BUCHANAN CO.— PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

It is however disappearing under the constant drain which 
has been stimulated by the high price paid for it. 

Grapes do very well in Buchanan ; bees are quite a success, 
andy?s7i are there in good quantity and of choice varieties. 

TRADE IN CATTLE AND SHEEP. 

Cattle 1,200 head of stock cattle annually. 

Sheep 2,500 " 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

The proposed line of the Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio 
Railroad, which is to connect with the Big Sandy Railroad, 
passes down Louisa Fork, and will thus pass nearly through 
the center of the county from south to north. A branch of 
the Richmond and Southwestern Railway may pass through 
the county at some day. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

There are only few trading posts of note in the county 
except Grundy, the county site — Needmcre, Shacks's Mills, 
Rock Lick, Knox Creek, Sand Lick, Grassy Creek, Dismal, 
and a few other places ; but there are no towns in the 
county. 

Grundy, the county site, has, besides the court-house, 
hotels, stores, and a weekly newspaper, which takes great 
interest in the advancement of the material welfare of the 
county. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The public schools are being more carefully looked after 
by the authorities, and will, with a more dense population to 
sustain them, become an important factor in the welfare of 
the county. 



FLOYD COUNTY. 255 

FLOYD COUNTY. 

This county, though comparatively new, is not far, if at all, 
behind its sisters in the importance of its resources. Any 
railway located with due regard to the position of its mineral 
veins and deposits must cause Floyd County to assume a 
position that would not only give it a high rank among the 
best counties of the State, but the character of the resources 
which would be thus developed would secure for Floyd 
a fame as deserving as it would be universal. 

Like many other counties of this section, volumes could be 
written upon any of them before a satisfactory description 
would be reached ; and it is a matter of deep regret that no 
more space can now be spared in the description of Floyd 
than this book is able to devote to it. Sufficient, it may be 
hoped, though, to show such prominent features of interest 
as will indicate its fine character. 

This county lies between Montgomery and Pulaski on the 
north, and the counties of Patrick and Franklin on the south 
and southeast, almost touching Roanoke County on the east, 
and bounded by the rich mineral county of Carroll on the 
west. 

Its northern line is marked in great part by a short section 
of Little River, and by Laurel Ridge and Bent Mountain. 
Its entire southern and eastern boundary is supposed to fol- 
low the crest of the southern bifurcation of the Blue Ridge, 
and its western limit has no very marked feature near it ex- 
cept " The Buffalo," a bold and beautiful peak rising many 
feet higher than the neighboring chains of mountains. 

This county is watered by the head-waters of Roanoke 
River, by Little River, and some of the streams which flow 
west into Big Reed Island Creek. 

TJie Geology of Floyd County may be described as lying be- 
tween the Lower Laurentian Rocks, on the south, and the 



256 



FLOYD COUNTY. 




Pilot Mountain 



- laurel Eidg& 



<^ Jacksonville 



The Buffalo 



Toncray Mines 

COPlPER 



»»' 



- 1 " lS mJi> * lllH 'i»J l > /asbestos 



._ Blue Ridge 



9 



a 



3 



'8fi* 



FLOYD COUNTY. 257 

Middle and Upper Huronian on the north, as may be more 
clearly comprehended by referring to the cross section on the 
opposite page, fifteen miles in length. 

The whole series of strata has a trend between northeast 
and east-northeast. 

Beginning in the Bine Ridge, on the south, there is a 
measure of pure asbestos eight inches or more in thickness, as 
at Barton's, between walls of steatite, which extend for many 
miles through the country. Next, northward, are valuable 
ledges of steatite ; and about two miles farther north is the 
stratification which holds the valuable bedded veins of copper 
ore and magnetite, showing at the Toncray Mine (near the old 
Shelor Furnace), at the Bear Beds, at Weddell's, and other 
places. 

This valuable copper vein, containing much arsenic also, of 
which it would be appropriate to speak just here, shows 
outcroppings at intervals for about fourteen miles in the 
county of Floyd. At the Toncray Mine it has been better 
developed than at any other point ; and, judging from the 
more abundant show of rich gossan on the surface, it may be 
regarded as one of the best localities likely to be found on 
the whole length. 

Dr. Richard O. Curry, A.M., M.D., examined Toncray 
Mine just at the time when all the excavations were freshly 
made. In his very clear general description, he says he 
found the gossan (or Iron Cap) to be 30 feet deep from the 
surface, before the undecomposed sulphurets set in. This 
iron ore, says the Doctor, was used very extensively, and 
with great satisfaction, by the Shelor Furnace. No doubt 
the high character attributed to the metal then made by that 
furnace was owing to the use of the pure hematites and 
magnetites of this vein. 

Dr. Curry, continuing his account, says : " There are two 
tunnels driven in upon the vein, situated upon the declivity 
17 



258 FLOYD COUNTY. 

of the ridge. The lower tunnel is driven in from the north 
side, south 40° east, so as to cross the lead, which has a 
course north 54° east. This tunnel reaches 245 feet, through 
a hard gneiss rock with quartz veins. Through the crevices 
of the quartz there are found small clusters of native copper. 
The main object had in view in excavating this tunnel was to 
obtain a drift for the upper gallery, expecting too that it 
would intersect the vein at a lower depth. 

" The upper tunnel is situated about 70 feet above the 
lower, and has been driven in through gossan and vein rock 
to a depth of 300 feet. When this upper tunnel was first 
opened, it was injudiciously driven in too far to the left of 
the vein ; but in carrying in a cross-cut to the right, about 40 
feet from the entrance, the vein was reached at a distance of 
only 20 feet. It was then followed for 250 feet through a 
soft talco-mica slate, several cross-cuts being run off to the 
right and left, so as to test the width of the vein. Through- 
out this whole length the vein is traced without any inter- 
mission — increasing in richness and width as the depth de- 
scends. The cross-cuts and the tunnels, driven in parallel to 
the main drift, expose the vein in a most beautiful manner — 
the intervening partitions, which have never yet been stoped 
out, consisting of solid banks of ore, in all its varieties, but 
mostly the oxides and black sulphuret. As only 32 tons of 
ore have been shipped from this mine since it was first 
opened, and as the ores exist in such rich abundance all 
along its walls and roofs, it may be readily inferred that the 
company had but one object in view — to open their mine to 
its fullest extent before raising their ores. Consequently, 
they have been content to drive a tunnel of 6 feet width 
through a 30-foot vein, only bringing out such ore as they 
had necessarily to excavate in driving forward the tunnel. 
Thus they had exposed sometimes the center of the vein; 
then by a cross-cut they have run to its northern side ; then, 



FLOYD COUNTY. 259 

by another, to the southern ; and from each of these branches 
carrying along tunnels parallel with the main trunk. They 
have thus exposed this vein for 300 feet, proving it to be one 
of great depth, with a width of 30 feet, the dip being to the 
southeast, at an angle of 45 degrees. The average per cent. 
of the ores raised is found to be 16. As soon as the lower 
tunnel is completed, and has effectually drained the upper, 
there will be no limit to the ores which may be excavated 
from its tunnels and chambers. In many of the mines these 
chambers are already formed by the continual raising of 
ores ; here, however, the intervening partitions between the 
tunnels yet remain, and will afford, by stoping, an incalcula- 
ble supply of rich ore." 

At the Bear Beds, on this same lead, the magnetite occupies 
a position in the northern wall of the vein about four feet in 
width. It may not extend lower than the depth of the de- 
composed ores. Below that it may confidently be expected 
that iron and copper sulphurets form the whole of the vein. 

The dip of 45° ascribed to this vein at the Tancray Mine is, 
in all probability, local, and confined to a short distance be- 
low the surface. The general dip of all the rocks of that 
vicinity is much steeper. 

This vein is also exposed at some old openings at the Hylton 
Mine, Nowlin's, Howell's, and at other places, presenting the 
same general characteristics, and yielding a very large ton- 
nage of iron oxides, or gossan, on the surface. 

It has been contended by some authorities that this iron 
ore (the gossan) contains too much copper to make a good 
welding metal. This is no argument against its availability 
as a mixing ore, in a section containing so many varieties, 
which, with proper railway facilities, can be brought together 
in a less number of miles than can be done in any other part 
of the country. 

Next, north of the great copper vein, of value is a measure 



260 FLOYD COUNTY. 

of soapstone. From this extensive band many citizens of the 
neighboring country obtain supplies of building stone, which 
they can saw into shape, not only to be used as backing for 
fireplaces, but much other masonry is built of it besides, 
owing to the ease with which it can be shaped into the sizes 
desired. 

This band seems to be but a repetition of another lying 
only a mile or so north of it, and might be taken for a repeti- 
tion of the same stratum, caused by a fold. But, if this view 
of the case be correct, there ought also to be another exhibit 
of the copper vein. There is nothing, however, to suggest 
the probability of such a version, but a line of magnetic ores 
on the surface, showing at such places as at Whitelow's, 
Hogan's, about one and a half miles south of Jacksonville. 

This line of magnetic ores, running northeast and south- 
west, has the reputation of showing in valuable quantities to- 
ward the eastern end of the county. Should the ore be 
found in sufficient quantities to be available, there is no evi- 
dence as yet to suggest the idea that they contain that objec- 
tionable constituent, titanic acid. 

The manganese ore, outcropping here and there, in Floyd 
County, is not sufficiently developed yet to show its probable 
quantity and quality. 

The next great mineral-bearing lead, encountered going 
north, is the galena-bearing quartz and the accompanying 
hydro-mica slates, etc., holding pyrites and decomposed ores 
in the shape of gossan. This band is over 200 feet wide, and 
shows quite conspicuously at Luster McAlexander's, on Little 
River. It is no doubt the northeastern prolongation of the 
Peach Bottom copper vein, which shows at several points 
farther southwest in Carroll, Grayson, Alleghany, and Ashe 
Counties. In the county of Floyd this lead can be traced for 
many miles. From its outcroppings, west of Abraham Bur- 
net's, near Williams, through, northeastwardly, across Little 



FLOYD CO. — GOLD. 2G1 

River and into the Beaverdam section, it can be found ; but 
what commercial value can now be properly attached to it, it 
would be difficult to say. 

At several points the quantity of galenite found in the 
quartz suggests the nattering hope of a sufficient percentage 
of silver to pay ; but as yet it would only mislead public 
opinion to declare such a result attainable from present de- 
velopments. Still, it is one of those vast depositories of 
mineral matter, which may at any moment reveal a great 
mass of highly valuable ore. It had more the appearance, a 
few months ago, of being valuable than the line of rocks from 
which the Brush Creek gold is supposed to be derived ; and 
it would not be astonishing to hear of its being made the 
basis of very successful mining operations on an extensive 
scale. At a point near Winter's, on Terry's Creek, there are 
interesting masses of gneiss interstratified with talcose slate 
and some chlorite, containing pyrites of copper and iron and 
some galenite, disseminated in the rock. 

In the immediate vicinity, about 1,000 feet north of the last- 
named vein, below McAlexander's, on Little River, there are 
plumbaginous and talcose slates. In these slates, in their 
eastern continuation toward the Locust Grove section, it may 
be that the plumbago is found which is, now and then, re- 
ported as occurring — near King's, on Bent Mountain Turn- 
pike, and on Mills's lands, four miles from Copper Hill, for 
instance. 

Passing thence northward, across great quartz veins, hydro- 
mica slates, etc., there is next encountered a series of kindred 
rocks containing the gold now being sought after on the east 
side of Little River, on Brush Creek, in Montgomery County. 

GOLD. 

On the Floyd County side of the river there is no stream 
answering in position to that of Brush Creek. Consequently 



262 FLOYD CO. — GOLD. 

the same formation, though containing, no doubt, the same 
percentage of free gold, is not so concentrated as to be notice- 
able in the same manner as it is where a stream, of the size 
of Brush Creek, has worn away so much of the rock material, 
leaving the gold in the sands and detritus along it. 

It would be very interesting to know every feature of this 
important series of rocks ; but it is plain that to attempt more 
than call attention to the facb of the existence of gold in con- 
siderable quantities in these rocks, would be to enter upon 
an undertaking, which, to be properly done, would consume 
every page of the book. 

It seems, however, that what gold there is, is, generally, 
very uniformly distributed through the great mass ; but there 
is no reason to doubt that it is concentrated here and there 
in easily defined veins. 

These Huronian rocks are known to have such character- 
istics in other places. Besides the gold, there is galena, and, 
now and then, copper pyrites with a still greater proportion 
of iron pyrites. 

This gold-bearing series is then bounded on the north by 
about 3,000 feet of felspathic and quartzose rock interstrati- 
fied with impure steatite, hydro-mica slates, and sometimes 
talcose and chloritic schists, with hornblende almost totally 
absent. These rocks seldom assume the proportions of true 
granite. There are sometimes protogine, but much of the 
rock is an albite and orthoclose petrosilex. This, then, is the 
last series of the cross section on the north, in the county of 
Floyd. 

In the northeastern part of the county, nearly in the con- 
tinuation, that way, of the gold-bearing series, on the North 
Fork of Boanoke Biver, there is a vein of magnetic pyrites 
near the house of Mr. Light, 12 feet thick, course north 45° 
east, dip 45° southeast. 

This ore contains a great deal of copper pyrites dissemin- 



FLOYD CO. — AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 263 

atecl through it, the iron pyrites being distinctly magnetic, 
and having the appearance of containing nickel. 

It is somewhat singular that this vein should lie within 
twelve miles of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad 
so long, with no up-grade intervening, without receiving more 
notice than it has. Also, at Purgatory, two and a half miles 
south of the north boundary line, Prof. Fontaine's analysis 
of arsenical pyrites, found in a 5 to 7 foot vein, shows 18 
ounces of silver to the ton. 

It would be idle to deny the great value of Floyd as. a 
mineral county. In nearly every part of it the surface indi- 
cates the presence of the ores described above. C. M. Stigel- 
man, M.D., a gentleman of fine attainments in scientific pur- 
suits, now residing at Jacksonville, enumerates some of the 
minerals and their localities as follows : Magnetic iron ore, 
at Whitelow's, Hogan's, Bishop's, Deskin's, Link's, and 
O'Connor's ; micaceous iron ore, Runnet Bag Gap, right of 
Patrick Road, Blue Ridge ; specular ore, eastern slope of 
Blue Bidge, Shooting Creek ; argentiferous lead, Little River ; 
arsenical pyrites, great copper vein ; limestone, north of 
Court-House on Montgomery Turnpike ; manganese, at White- 
low's and Columbus Rick's, Shooting Creek ; asbestos, in 
the Blue Ridge, at Signer's and other places ; pickeringite, 
three miles north of Court-House. 

AGRICULTURAL FEATURES. 

The proportion of lands in this county available for tobacco 
culture is, perhaps, greater than for any other purpose. In 
the west end, on the waters of Burnet's and Greasy Creeks, 
are the largest areas of grass lands ; and upon these very 
considerable herds of cattle are grazed and wintered an- 
nually. 

Throughout the county good farming lands are found, 



264 FLOYD CO. — SHIPMENTS OVER HOME CONSUMPTION. 

though in many places very steep. Occasionally a band of 
talco-mica slates and schists, impregnated to a certain ex- 
tent with manganese, will afford poor land where they form 
the subsoil ; but such areas constitute but a small proportion 
of the whole. Little River and its tributaries have many 
fine farming tracts. On Burk's Fork, though the land is gen- 
erally steep, it yields a safe return to the farmers. In fact, 
much of it is really fine land, susceptible of a high state of 
cultivation. The rock here is frequently diorite, which, de- 
composing, has left a strong and permanent subsoil composed 
of deep red clay. 

Throughout the Blue Ridge the decomposition of much 
gneissoid-rock material has left a soil which, though not 
always of the first quality, is susceptible of improvement at 
small outlay. In the eastern end of the county, richer and 
poorer lands alternate with each other, as the substratum is 
more or less felspathic. Much of it, judged by the growth 
on it, is exceedingly fertile. Down in the deep gorges made 
by the North Fork of Roanoke River the lands are seldom 
available for cultivation. 



ANNUAL SHIPMENTS OVER AND ABOVE HOME CONSUMPTION OF 
SEVERAL PRODUCTS. 

Tobacco 185,000 pounds, mostly good wrap- 
pers, bringing $50 or $60 per hundred pounds. 

Wheat 11,000 bushels. 

Corn 800 

Cattle 1,050 head @ $20 per head. 

" 500 " " 8 " 

Fine cattle 100 " " 25 " 

Sheep 1,000 " " 2 " 



FLOYD CO. — FISH CULTURE. 265 



TIMBER. 



Many sections of the county are still covered with a fine 
virgin forest. The Buffalo Eidge and Laiirel Creek County is 
one unbroken forest for miles in extent. The spurs of the Blue 
Eidge, while rich enough to be farmed in many places to the 
top, are still heavily timbered with fine bodies of chestnut, 
chestnut-oak, white oak, etc. These trees constitute the main 
body of the timber in the more mountainous portions. There 
are valuable bodies of timbered lands, now and then showing 
a large quantity of white pine. This is mainly used in making 
shingles. Furnaces for making iron would not be at a loss, 
anywhere in the county, for a supply of cheap charcoal for 
some years to come. 

WATER POWER. 

Little Biver affords fine water. The Southwest Fork, near 
Jacksonville, is utilized to run one of the finest flouring mills 
in Virginia. In every part of the county, at intervals of a few 
miles, there are water powers, either in use as saw-mills, grist- 
mills, carding-machines, or only await the time when the in- 
crease of population in the county will require their use. 

FRUIT. 

Apples form one of the native fruits of the county, and 
rarely miss making a full crop annually. 

Peaches are not much cultivated. Grapes, plums, and pears 
do well. 

FISH CULTURE. 

The streams are all well adapted to the culture of the finest 
varieties of game fish, but no attempt is being made as yet to 
stock any of them with improved varieties, except such work 
as has been done by the State Fish Commission, Col. Thomas 



266 FLOYD CO. — PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Lewis, of Salem, and Mr. Sumter, of Montgomery, in stocking 
New River and the Roanoke — some distance away from the 
county — the streams of Floyd being mainly tributaries of these 
rivers. 

BEE CULTURE. 

Many of the citizens pay a good deal of attention to the im- 
provement of their bees, but none engage in producing honey 
for more than their home use. In this, no part of the country 
could be better adapted than Floyd. The number of flower- 
ing trees, shrubs, and plants, together with the numerous suck- 
ing places in the damp hollows, give the bee peculiar advan- 
tages. It seems that the bee is not only able to obtain from 
these marshy places the moisture it requires, but, in seasons 
when blossoms are scarce, must also derive some of the ma- 
terial used in making its honey. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Jacksonville, where the court-house is situated, is the prin- 
cipal place in the county. It has churches of various de- 
nominations, hotels, and stores in which every variety of 
goods for country use may be had ; a good and progressive 
newspaper, The Floyd Reporter, devoted to the advancement 
of the best interests of the community. It has good schools ; 
and has such shops for repairs of wagons, tinware, harness, 
etc., as are usual in such towns. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

To judge from the tenor of the Report of the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, the public schools have been neglected 
in the last few years, but there now seems to be a decided im- 
provement in this particular. The schools will, no doubt, be 
more regularly sustained in the future. 




BEATRICE FALLS, FLOYD CO., VA. 

(P. 267.) 



FLOYD CO. — PUNCHEON KUN FALLS. 267 

SCENERY. 

This county presents romantic scenery, of a kind beautiful 
and attractive, just in proportion, inversely, as it is unknown 
outside of its immediate neighborhood. The falls of the Roan- 
oke, which are designated the Beatrice Falls, after the daugh- 
ter of Queen Victoria — named more in honor of the fine per- 
sonal character of those illustrious women than the positions 
they adorn — would compare with any piece of mere scenic 
beauty in the purity and harmony of all its surroundings. 
This fall of 90 feet, almost perpendicular, over a hard quartzose 
and felspathic rock, is terminated below by a pool, into which 
empties a smaller stream with an almost perpendicular fall 
of about 200 feet. This latter is called the Prince Imperial. 

These two together form a rare picture, equaled, perhaps, 
by some of the scenery in California ; and only excelled in 
point of magnitude by a few places, but not in beauty by any. 

PUNCHEON RUN FALLS. 

Only a few miles from the above-named falls, nearly on the 
line of Floyd and Montgomery, is another place of singular 
and attractive beauty. For about 350 feet, the water of a 
small creek, the Puncheon Run, dashes over the face of a 
great sheet of rock, with its sides fringed and hemmed in by 
every species of mountain vegetation. In the early summer 
it has a setting of red and pink and white, formed of the lux- 
uriant blossoms of both the Rhododendrons, Catawbiense, 
and R. Maximum, the laurel, and the mountain ivy. 

The place is wild and rugged, and, when better means of 
access' can be secured, will form one of the most attractive 
features of this country. 

All these falls are accessible from the Atlantic, Mississippi 
and Ohio Railroad, or the mineral springs of Montgomery 
County, in less than a day's drive. 



268 CARROLL COUNTY. 



CARROLL COUNTY. 

This county scarcely needs any other introduction than an 
allusion to its character as the great copper county of South- 
western Virginia ; a character which has been established, 
really, for years ; but, until recently, through the publicity 
given to the facts, by the author of this work, in various lec- 
tures in the Eastern cities, and by the publication in Hotch- 
kiss' able periodical (The Virginias), these vast deposits have 
remained comparatively unknown. It is true they may have 
been alluded to both by Professor Rogers and Professor 
Lesley ; but at that early day there were so few developments 
as to afford only the most meager data upon which to base 
statements. 

Carroll, being rich in other resources — in iron ores, tim- 
ber, fine streams, mineral springs, etc. — must be regarded, 
each succeeding year that her unquestionably important re- 
sources are developed, as one of the most valuable of the 
brilliant gems that go to make up the remarkable series of 
mineral counties known as Southwestern Virginia. 

In fact, so great is the body of sulphureted ores alone in 
the county, that they, with plentiful means of transportation, 
must form the basis of industries on a large scale, the extent 
of which it would be difficult, now, even to approximate. 
Thus, when the great West shall have exhausted the virgin 
strength of its soil, and becomes a much larger purchaser 
than now of good fertilizers, these heavily sulphureted ores 
will have been brought into easy communication with other 
valuable constituents — both those 01 South Carolina' and of 
Carroll's sister counties — and will become, in the time of the 
country's greatest demand, one of the heaviest manufacturers 
of cheap and efficient fertilizers, perhaps, in the world. It 
would be curious and interesting to show how such industries 



CARROLL CO. — HOW BOUNDED. 269 

could be established ; what ingredients, such as potash, etc., 
could be brought together, and how they could be made into 
excellent and cheap fertilizers ; but the fact that the lines of 
transportation are still wanting, as well as space, admonishes 
us to leave the subject for future consideration. In that time, 
no doubt, some cheap means will have been found by which 
those felspars of Grayson and Carroll, holding fourteen per 
cent, of potash, can be used in connection with the sulphur of 
the abundant Carroll County ores. It is true, this is some- 
what generalizing ; but it will be only the uncandid mind 
which will be slow to admit the almost certainty of the above 
reflections, not to speak of the gigantic operations in the re- 
duction of copper even now seriously contemplated by some 
of the most experienced and capable men in that line of busi- 
ness in the country. That Carroll County, with adequate 
means of transportation, will develop mines of lasting and 
permanent value, there can be no doubt ; and that this county 
will form one of the most considerable factors in the solution 
of the problem of the State's future prosperity, is beyond a 
question. It is able, by means of its vast hidden wealth, to 
bring lines of railway through the county, and will inevitably 
increase the tax-paying power of its own and surrounding 
communities to so great a degree as to render it a fit com- 
parison to say, that that capacity will have improved a thou- 
sand fold. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Carroll is separated from "Wythe and Pulaski on the north 
by the Iron Mountain range, locally termed here the Poplar 
Camp Mountains ; northeast by Floyd County ; southeast 
and southward it is divided from the county of Patrick by 
the main Blue Kidge ; and touches the North Carolina line. 
Westerly it is bounded by Grayson County. 



270 



CAEEOLL COUUTY. 



53 






S> 



© 

3 



on or JFoplar Camp Mtn. 



or Copper Lode 



HillsvilU 
Peaeh Bottom Copper Io3e 




CARROLL CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 271 

HOW WATERED. 

Carroll is watered by New Kiver and some of its considera- 
ble tributaries, Big and Little Reed Island Creeks and their 
head-waters, Poplar Camp Creek, Crooked Creek, Chestnut 
Creek, and some minor streams. All of these being bold and 
regular in their flow throughout the year, give to the county 
a name for being well watered. 



GEOLOGICAL. 

The geological features of the county are nearly identical 
with those of Floyd and Grayson, except that Grayson has 
such an immense quantity of granite, which neither Carroll 
nor Floyd seem to have. The geology may, then, be said to 
be comprised between the Laurentian gneissoid series, near 
the heart of the Blue Ridge, and the Huronian, inclusive. 
The dip of the rocks has that general appearance of being 
monoclinal southwardly, or rather southeastwardly, common 
to most of the rocks of this region ; but in places there were 
once great folds or anticlinals, the crests of which have been 
denuded and swept away in the lapse of time since they were 
so folded, leaving both sides of the fold with the same general 
average inclination. 

Beginning in the Blue Ridge, we have generally a gneissoid 
formation ; but, about the main crest, talco-mica, hornblende, 
and chlorite slates and schists and soapstone alternating with 
each other. In all these strata there are occasional heavy 
bands of quartz. The gneissoid formation prevails until you 
pass the general location of the Southern Copper Lode, as 
represented on the cross section. Then, in about half a mile 
north of this southern lode, you cross a broad band of horn- 
blendic slates, schists, etc.; then soapstone ; then slate, schists, 
and quartz veins ; then, when within three miles of Hillsville, 



272 CARROLL CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 

on the south, you touch upon the trappean rocks in which is 
situated the native copper lode ; then, within a mile of Hills- 
ville, alternations of hornblendic with mica slates and schists ; 
then about Hillsville, the continuation of the strata which 
hold the northeastern extension of the Peach Bottom Copper 
Lode, here mostly gneissoid ; then, for more than a mile, horn- 
blende ; then, for three miles, going northwardly across the 
great Northern Copper Lode and its branch vein the Dalton, 
through talco-mica slates, chlorite slates, and sometimes 
slightly hornblendic slates ; then across several miles of a 
repetition of hydro-mica slates, etc., to the foot of Poplar 
Camp or Iron Mountain ; then through the heavy quartzose 
and slightly felspathic bands composing the mountain on the 
south side, ending the section at the county line on the crest 
of the mountain. 

Following the plan adopted for the other counties, an at- 
tempt will be made to describe the iron ores first, although 
the importance of the copper ores, comparatively, would 
rather suggest the propriety of their being treated first. The 
Iron Ores of Carroll, it may be submitted, cannot be regarded 
as the least important of its resources. Not only do they 
exist in very great quantity, but they are generally pure, ex- 
cept where they retain a little too much copper. It will be 
understood that the greater part of these ores are derived 
from the decomposition of iron and copper pyrites ; even the 
magnetites and semi-magnetites may be thus derived ; hence 
it is not to be wondered at that copper will be found in the 
iron ores. 

Of the Brown Ores there are vast beds and deposits exist- 
ing as gossan along the outcrops of the different pyritous 
veins, or lodes, of copper and iron. It would be difficult to 
estimate the quantity which occurs on the southern or Ore 
Knob Toncray Lode, as its greater distance from railway 
transportation has caused it to be less explored than the 



CARROLL CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 273 

more northern veins. A description of the location of this 
lode just here would rob it of that interest which would at- 
tach to it in its character of a copper lode ; but it is not 
deemed to have that character for copper in Carroll County 
which it possesses either at Ore Knob Mine on the southwest, 
or at the Toneray Mine in Floyd County on the northeast. 
It is, so far as known in Carroll County, of more value in its 
character as an iron vein. This may be applied both to its 
massive exhibits of gossan, or brown and red oxide, here and 
there, and to the masses of undecomposed sulphurets existing 
below. This is observable where this lode crosses Snake 
Creek. The vein here exposed had not been so fully opened 
as to give a satisfactory showing of its true character when 
visited by Dr. Curry in 1859, since which time no work 
of consequence has been done in the way of development on 
the lode ; but enough has been done, and the outcroppings 
are sufficiently abundant throughout, to make evident the 
vast quantity of both gossan and sulphuret it is capable of 
yielding. 

It is nearly twenty-seven miles long in Carroll, with a vari- 
able thickness between twelve and twenty feet thick, lying; 
in the gneissoid system, just north of the Blue Eidge, dipping 
southwardly, generally at high angles. It has the interesting 
feature of uniting with the Native Copper Lode somewhere 
near the head of Laurel Creek, in the boundary line between 
Carroll and Floyd. Of this fact, however, the writer is not 
positively aware, as it was out of his power to follow up the 
Native Lode to the supposed junction; and it is a matter 
of regret, also, that he was not able to give the Southern 
Lode as thorough an inspection in Carroll as he gave it in 
Floyd and in Ashe, or that he has given to the Great Northern 
Lode, the Peach Bottom, and the Native Lodes. 

The next great bodies of Broicn Iron Ores are found on 
the Great Northern Lode and its branch veins in the northern 
18 



274 CAEEOLL CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 

central portion of the county. The vast gossan outcrops of 
this lode, which passes, near Cranberry Plains, from south- 
west to northeast through the county, have been mentioned 
by De. F. A. Genth in his report to the " Wistar Copper 
Mining Company " in 1876 ; by De. Dickeson in his report to 
" The Dalton Mining Company " in 1857 ; by De. Cueey in 
his "Visit to the. Virginia Copper Region " in 1859, recently 
quoted by Hotchkiss's " Virginias, " and were described by 
the author in several lectures delivered before meetings of 
" The American Institute of Mining Engineers. " Beginning 
at the southwest end, bodies of this gossan, or hydrated per- 
oxide of iron, are noticeable as the lode, after crossing New 
River for the last time, passes into the county from Grayson, 
about three miles north of Old Town. Here, near the Leon- 
ard Mine, in the Clifton Copper and Silver Mine, the lode be- 
gins to show those surface brown ores of iron which assume 
such vast proportions a mile or two northeast at the Great 
Outburst. It is possible that at the Great Outburst, and on 
the Chestnut Creek property of "Wistar Copper Mining Com- 
pany, the ore is more than 150 feet thick by an average of 
30 to 35 feet. De. Genth, in speaking of the 6,800 feet length 
of the lode, which he examined in 1876, says : " Taking the 
average width at 45 feet, and the depth of the limonite (gos- 
san) workable as a valuable iron ore at 30 feet, and the 
weight of one cubic foot of this limonite at 150 pounds, the 
Chestnut Creek property contains at least a body of 586,000 
tons of available iron ore, yielding about 50 per cent, of pig 
metal. " 

Again, from Copperas Hill, on Crooked Creek, where the 
great lode appears to divide into two great veins, going 
northeastwardly, through all the old workings — on the lands 
of the Wythe Lead and Zinc Mines (which also own copper 
property), Vaughan, Ann Phipps, "Wild Cat, Cranberr}^ Dal- 
ton mines, Ann Eliza, and Betty Baker mines — you find a ton- 



CARROLL CO. — MAGNETITE. 275 

nage of brown iron ores in the shape of gossan which will go 
up into the millions of tons. 

These ores — as at the Betty Baker mines — often present 
the appearance of highly valuable ochreous deposits. And the 
value of the whole is now only a question of cheap transpor- 
tation. 

SPECULAR ORES. 

The pure ores of this variety are not as yet found in very 
large quantities in Carroll, though five veins are strongly sus- 
pected in this series of rocks. Near Thompson's Mill, on a 
hill north of a small creek which runs into Little Reed Island 
Creek, there is specular ore combined with magnetite in a 
vein not yet fully developed, but supposed to be six feet 
thick. 

MAGNETITE. 

Magnetic iron ore is found in many localities in Carroll ; it 
is found to follow a line just north of the Southern Lode ; and 
again another series of outcroppings is observable both north 
and south of the strike of the Great Northern Lode, as well 
as in many other localities. Unfortunately a want of transpor- 
tation has prevented the citizens from taking sufficient in- 
terest in these ores to have them developed. 

The magnetite as showing in surface pieces is usually very 
good ; and there isn't enough titanium — as rutile — showing 
on the surface to warrant the belief that it is heavily impreg- 
nated with that impurity. As has just now been said, mag- 
netite exists with specular ore in a vein which crosses a hill 
not far north of Thompson's Mill. Should this vein be six 
feet thick, as suspected, the quantity of ore it will yield 
throughout its length above water level would be very great, 
the hills being usually 180 feet at their crests above water 



276 CARROLL CO. — COPPER ORE. 

in the creeks. Nearer the Great Northern Copper Lode, on the 
northern side, as well as on the southern side, the ores picked 
up are a purer magnetite ; but no satisfactory data have 
been collected yet as to the thickness of the deposits. 

IRON PYRITES. 

To speak of the iron pyrites fully, again anticipates the de- 
scription of the great metalliferous lodes carrying copper, 
which would seem more properly to belong to the chapter on 
copjDer. 

Iron pyrites in Carroll is found in many of the rock strata. 
Nearly every quartz lead has more or less of it. It is the 
great basic material of the Southern Copper Lode. It forms 
the greater mass of the Northern and Dalton Lodes, besides 
minor ones it would be tedious to mention. To form even 
the most distant idea of its quantity, it is only necessary to 
imagine a length of 54 miles, by a thickness of 30 feet, of an 
unknown but very great depth. Much of this, strictly, is 
pyrrhotite or polarized pyrites. A proportion of it is also 
arsenical : the quantity of arsenic may assume, at points, large 
proportions. In all probability, the quantity of arsenic in 
the Southern Lode is much greater than in any other, judging 
from the constituents it shows in Floyd County. 

The iron pyrites, under favorable conditions of cheap trans- 
portation, would become an important basis for large chemi- 
cal works, including the manufacture of fertilizers on a large 
scale. Much of it being above water level, it could be mined 
with great facility. 

COPPER ORE. 

It is not taking too much for granted to say that the copper 
ores of Carroll County have become already very widely 
known. 



CAEKOLL CO. — NATIVE COPPER. 277 

Besides the humble efforts of the author, Lieut. Maury, 
Dr. T. S. Hunt, Dr. F. A. Genth, and other gentlemen emi- 
nent in scientific pursuits have had something to say about 
these veins. To these may also be added the efforts of Dr. 
Curry and of Dr. Dickeson. To Dr. Curry may be ascribed 
the first effort to map out these veins, and illustrate them and 
the general geology of the country with proper cross sections ; 
and the errors which he may have committed, here and there, 
are more than compensated by the mass of really reliable in- 
formation which he gave at so early a day as 1859. 

Taking the Southern or Ore Knob Toncray Lode into con- 
sideration first, it derives more of its importance as a copper 
lode from the splendid showings at Ore Knob, on its south- 
west extension, and the Toncray Mine, on its northeast exten- 
sion, than from anything known of it in Carroll County ; but 
it may be assumed that it must, at greater or less depths, at 
many places in Carroll, contain rich ores of copper. It is a 
matter of regret that its greater distance, along here, from 
railway transportation, has prevented it from being more 
thoroughly developed. 

NATIVE COPPER. 

Next, going northwardly, is encountered the remarkable 
lode of native copper, which is known to run for eighteen 
miles in a direction which cuts diagonally across the general 
strike of the other veins. It was stated in the author's paper 
recently read before the New York meeting of the American 
Institute of Mining Engineers, that this lode had a direction 
from northwest to southeast. This was putting it strongly, 
to show the difference between its course and that of the 
Great Northern Lode, which is from southwest to northeast. 
The true course of the Native Lode is more east and west. It 
is apparently perpendicular in attitude — 6 feet of close, hard 



278 CARROLL CO. — THE PEACH BOTTOM LODE. 

schistose material, holding native copper, having walls of tre- 
molitic and hornblendic trap, in some places yielding beryl. 

Its location, as determined by actual survey, is shown on 
the large map accompanying this book. It will be seen from 
that, that it intersects the Peach Bottom Lode near Wood- 
lawn, and traverses the formation in the direction of a point 
where the Southern Lode crosses the boundary line between 
Carroll and Floyd. It may be submitted that there, on the 
head-waters of Laurel Creek, valuable discoveries may be an- 
ticipated. 

No estimate has as yet been given of the percentage of cop- 
per in this vein above eight per cent. The vein can be seen 
exposed at James Early's, south of Hillsville, and at the point 
where it crosses Reed Island Creek, besides other places. 

THE PEACH BOTTOM LODE. 

This lode can be clearly traced from the southwest side of 
the county, very distinctly, as far as Hillsville. It passes 
close on the south of Woodlawn, and there on lands of that 
vicinity it shows plainly in nearly perpendicular ledges 
of micaceous schists interlaminated with quartz. These 
rocks are gneissoid in structure as you approach Hillsville ; 
and there they are in such workable ledges that some of the 
stones containing copper pyrites are now in the foundation of 
the court-house. It will be as well to repeat here what is 
said in the description of the Peach Bottom Copper Mine, that 
the ore of this vein, everywhere it has been examined, is cop- 
per pyrites, with some carbonate of copper near the surface, 
resulting from decomposition of pyrites, and, for the greater 
length of the vein, silver-bearing galenite. It is almost im- 
possible to give a correct idea of its thickness or value in 
Carroll. So little has its presence been suspected by the 
mining world that sufficient developments have not as yet 
been made by which to judge correctly. 



CARROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 279 

A quartz lode containing pyrites of iron and copper, in dis- 
tinct crystals, of large size, is next found between the Peach. 
Bottom Lode and the Northern Lode, lying nearer the latter 
than the former. It is not probable that it will prove of 
value, as the quartz forms too large a percentage of the 
measure. 

Next north of this is the Great Northern Lode of copper 
and iron pyrites. 

NORTHERN LODE. 

It may be an error to call all of these metalliferous veins 
by the technical term lode. As to this one, it has the appear- 
ance just west of Chestnut Creek of occupying a perpendicu- 
lar fissure in a dipping stratification ; while at a point near 
Early's, at Cranberry Plains, it dips 45 D about, in a direction 
southeastwardly. At the latter it would be regarded as dis- 
tinctly a bedded vein ; at the former, a fissure vein or lode. 

This great vein or lode, coming from the direction of Duck- 
town, makes its appearance in Carroll County about three 
miles north of Old Town on the Carroll-Grayson line, and 
extends, without intermission, twenty-five miles, northeast- 
wardly, to the Carroll-Floyd line. 

Its first southwestern opening of any consequence is at the 
Leonard opening, sometimes called " The Clifton Copper and 
Silver Mine," so named because of a flattering analysis re- 
turned by an Indianapolis chemist, in which he ascribed to 
this part of the vein the remarkable quality of holding (be- 
sides sulphur, iron, and copper), nickel, silver, and arsenic- 
A great many persons do not credit this analysis, which was 
made for Mr. Edward Shelley, of "Wytheville ; but when the 
chemist was applied to, he persisted in saying that the ores 
sent him gave the results reported. It is somewhat singular 
that Dr. Gexth did not find silver or nickel in the ores about 
Chestnut Creek, two and a half miles farther northeast. Mr. 



280 CARROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 

Dean, of Indianapolis, reported one mass of the ore sent him 
to contain over $450 to the ton in silver ; but as the matter is 
entirely too important to be left to any degree of conjecture, 
no fuller report will here be given of the analysis, the hope 
being entertained that selected samples of the ores may be 
forwarded to different competent chemists for thorough assay. 
Next to the Clifton Mine is the Great Outburst — a name ap- 
plied to an immense surface exhibition of gossan — on the west- 
ern boundary of the tract of the Wistar Copper Mining Co. ; 
then going east less than a mile you are on the main mining 
ground of this company, of which Dr. F. A. Genth made a 
very close and exhaustive examination of 6,800 feet of the 
lode near Chestnut Creek, in 1876, at which examination the 
author was present. 

Although Dr. Genth says the vein is " between 30 and over 
60 feet," it is believed to be, at one place, over 150 feet thick. 

Dr. Genth says : " The geological formation on these lands 
is that of gneissic rocks, more especially consisting of mica 
slates and schists, graduating into chloritis and talcose. Their 
average dip is about 45° southeast, with a strike between 
north 30° east and north 45° east. 

" A very large mineral deposit between 45 and 65 feet in 
width coincides in its course with the strike of the inclosing 
rocks ; from the developments made by Shaft No. 1, the ore 
deposit seems to intersect the rock-strata, and to be nearly 
perpendicular, corresponding in this respect with similar de- 
posits in the same range of mountains, for instance, with that 
at Ore Knob, Ashe County, N. C. 

" The ore deposit has been developed by numerous shafts 
and several tunnels, many of which have been made long ago, 
and are at present inaccessible. 

" About 3,400 feet from the southwest boundary line of the 
property, Shaft No. 1, or the Pyrites Shaft, has been sunk to a 
depth of 105 feet altogether in the vein. At the bottom of it 



CAEROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 281 

a tunnel has been started toward the southeast wall, which, 
however, was not reached. 

" This shaft was started in the decomposed part of the vein, 
the so-called 'gossan,' a hydrous ferric oxide or limonite. 
At the depth of ten feet this was occasionally stained with 
green carbonate of copper or malachite, which sometimes oc- 
curred even in larger masses. 

" At a depth of between 20 and 25 feet the limonite was 
penetrated, and a bed of black copper ore of about three 
feet in thickness was reached. This consisted chiefly of 
black oxide of copper, copper glance, and small quantities 
of copper pyrites. The analysis of samples of this ore 
yielded 21.08 and 28!90 per cent, of metallic copper. 

" At a depth of 25 feet the oxidized ores had completely 
disappeared, and were rej)laced by the undecomposed sul- 
phurets, mostly pyrrhotite or magnetic pyrites, with some 
iron pyrites and small quantities of copper pyrites. 

" These developments show that the vein was divided by 
interlaminated talc into three seams ; that near the hanging 
wall and foot wall containing a far smaller percentage of cop- 
per pyrites than the central seam, which latter is about 10 
feet in thickness, the total thickness of the vein being here 
about 30 feet. 

" Although not free from copper pyrites, the ores in the 
other seams consist mostly of pyrrhotite. The central seam, 
with a considerable admixture of copper pyrites, was struck 
by the shaft between 40 and 50 feet depth, and was again 
cut by the tunnel at 105 feet, showing the same character, 
but with a decided increase of copper pyrites at the lowest 
depth reached, from which it is safe to presume that this 
most valuable and reliable copper ore will, in greater depth, 
replace the leaner sulphurets of iron. 

"As in the developments made by this shaft the ores had 
not been kept separate, I have selected with great care, from 



232 CAEROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 

the ores on the surface, a sample representing the lowest 
yield of the same. It was found to contain 1.70 per cent, of 
copper ; ores from the central seam and the southeast tunnel 
yielded 9.36 per cent, of copper. It would have been easy, 
if this had been desirable, to select ores yielding from 30 to 
35 per cent, of copper. 

" Near this shaft, on the west side of the vein, a tunnel 
was started, by which developments, however, no additional 
information could be gained. 

" Ascending the hill toward northeast, the Shaft No. 2, or 
JVIrim Shaft, is reached at a distance of 1,5C0 feet. This 
shaft was inaccessible, being full of water. Ores which had 
been raised from it, and which were lying on the surface, 
showed the character of the deposit. 

"After the penetration of the gossan or limonite, rich 
black ores were found at a depth of about 40 feet, in a layer 
of about 14 inches in thickness, accompanied by about 21 
feet of leaner ores, consisting of pyrrhotite, copper pyrites, 
a little black oxide of copper associated with talc and actiono- 
lite, and yielding about 10 per cent, of cor)per. A sample of 
the black ore from this shaft yielded by analysis 51.53 per 
cent, of copper. 

" This shaft has not been sunken deep enough to reach 
to undecomposed sulphurets. 

" Here the vein has been stripped across for 45 feet, but 
had not reached the walls. 

" At a distance of 414 feet from Shaft No. 2 is another one, 
and 24 feet further on a fourth, and 96 feet northeast from 
this a fifth, the latter of a depth of 80 feet. They are all 
inaccessible, and in part caved in. 

" There are several other shafts and tunnels on the 1,350 
feet of vein between the last-named shaft and the northeast 
boundary line, neither of which could be examined on ac- 
count of their inaccessibility. 



CARROLL CO. — NORTHEEN LODE. 283 

" By these developments the character of the ore deposit 
has been shown to be the same throughout ; large quantities 
of rich black copper ores have been removed by these work- 
ings. 

" There is another point of importance to which I wish to 
call your attention, namely, to another copper deposit, which 
lies southeast of the main ore deposit at a distance of about 
80 feet. 

" It has been proved by a shaft and' tunnel, No. 3, not to be 
connected with the main vein. I could see in the tunnel 
only a small part of that which was left from previous work- 
ings, which was a body of black ore about 18 inches thick 
and 15 feet in length. A sample, apparently representing 
a fair average of the ore, yielded by assay 10.21 per cent, 
of copper. 

" It is not improbable that this deposit originates from the 
reprecipitation of the copper, leached out, when the upper 
part of the main vein was decomposed and converted into 
limonite, and it may extend the whole distance of the main 
vein and parallel with it. 

" I consider it of great importance to make developments 
to ascertain the value of this suggestion, as the ores from 
this deposit can be easily mined. 

" Summing up the observations which have been made on 
the main vein, we find the following data : 

"The length of the vein through the Chestnut Creek 
property is proved for a distance of over 6,800 feet. The 
vein can be traced over the whole property by a very bold 
outcrop of limonite or so-called gossan. The thickness of 
the vein is between 30 and over 60 feet. 

" According to the elevation, the oxidized ores, mainly 
limonite, free from sulphurets and with traces only of copper 
ores, form the upper part of the vein to a depth of from 20 
to 40 feet. 



284 CAEROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 

"Below the limonite is invariably found a rich layer of 
copper ores from one to three feet in thickness, and yielding 
from ten to over fifty per cent, of copper. 

" Below this occur the undecomposed sulphurets, princi- 
pally pyrrhotite or magnetic pyrites, intermixed with small 
quantities of copper pyrites, the latter increasing as a greater 
depth is reached, from which fact it is reasonable to suppose 
that this ore may soon be found in paying quantities. 

'"Based upon the above data, the following will be seen to 
be a low estimate of the valuable ores at present existing in 
the main ore deposit of the Chestnut Creek property, leaving 
out of consideration the sulphureted ores. 

" Taking the black ores only at one foot in thickness, there 
are over 300,000 cubic feet of copper ore, representing about 
20,000 tons of ore, yielding not less than 4,000 tons of fine 
copper. 

"From these data, and the fact that the undecomposed 
sulphurets show a decided increase in the yield of copper 
pyrites in depth, the great value of your property is self- 
evident." 

Then, passing on northeastwardly through numerous good 
properties along the lode, such as the old Limeberry, Cop- 
peras Hill, Wythe Lead and Zinc Company's copper lands, 
Vaughan's, and others, we come to the old J. Early property, 
noAv owned by the Baltimore firm of Clayton & Williams, as 
well as being owners of about nine miles' length on the lode 
either way from this property. When Dr. Curry visited this 
property in 1859, the shafts and tunnels were then in better 
condition for exploring the vein than they have ever been 
since. In fact, little or no work has been done since then of 
a reliable nature ; that is to say, very intelligently directed. 

Dr. Curry says : " The property, extending one half mile 
on the lead, was opened in 1854, and the work pushed to a 
greater extent than on any other property. This property is 



CARROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 235 

composed of an elevated ridge, which rises like a crest over- 
looking the Wytheville Turnpike, and well adapted to the 
tunneling to which it has been subjected. The total drivage 
of levels amounts to 800 feet, opening upon a mineral vein 
about 60 feet below the surface, and running north 54° east, 
with a dip of 60° to southeast. The entire vein, in all its 
length through the property, is estimated at not less than 
10 feet thick and 25 feet wide. There are about nine shafts 
sunk on the lead, for ventilating mainly, their total depth be- 
ing 250 feet, though the deepest only reaches 45 feet. Neither 
the depth nor the width of the mineral vein has been fully 
ascertained. Cross-cuts have been made from the main tun- 
nels, and parallel levels driven, but still along the mineral 
lode. The works on this property exhibit very markedly the 
order of superposition of the various ores of these mines. 
After penetrating through the gossan crust, which here is 
strongly deposited, the carbonates and oxides are found oc- 
cupying the upper portions of the veins. To these succeed, 
in the second galleries, the decomposed bisulphurets or black 
ores ; and, in the lower gallery, the gray and blue bisulphurets, 
beneath which lies the mundic rock. These galleries are sepa- 
rated by thin floors of rock, or of plank, and beautifully illus- 
trate the system of mining (1850) in following the vein down- 
ward. A deep shaft has been also sunk in the valley at the 
base of the ridge, and near the turnpike, which, after passing 
through a hard, quartzose slate, opened upon a vein of the 
yellow sulphuret. This shaft, in our opinion, would have 
yielded handsome results, had it been located a few paces 
farther to the south. It also establishes the fact, that below 
the mundic comes the yellow sulphuret in the vein rock, which 
would grow richer as the depth increased. 

" There have been 700 tons of ore shipped from this mine, 
consisting of the usual varieties of carbonates, oxides, and 
sulphurets, and averaging 15 per cent." 



286 CARROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 

Going, then, northeastwardly, over several valuable open- 
ings on the lode, the Betty Baker Mine is reached, of which 
Dr. Curry says: "Entering the levels opposite the Anna 
Mary Mines, we pass in for 40 feet at right angles to the lode, 
where it is reached. It is then followed 300 feet, with some 
two or three cross-cuts and parallel drifts, exposing, through- 
out its entire length, a splendid view of the vein, from which 
the red and black oxides are mined, yielding 22 per cent. 
Since the 1st of May last, 130 tons of 20 per cent, ore have been 
taken out and shipped to Baltimore. Here, as in the Cran- 
berry Mines, the richer ores occupy the upper vein, while 
the poorer lie upon the mundic rock, beneath which no ex- 
plorations have been made (1859)." 

Since that time (1859), however, very extensive explorations 
have been made by Mr. James E. Clayton, of Ore Knob, and 
the yellow sulphuret found below, as is usually anticipated 
in veins which show such a quantity of decomposed ores 
nearer the surface. 

It may be remembered, in speaking of iron pyrites, it was 
stated that this Northern Lode seemed, in going northeast- 
wardly, to divide at Copperas Hill, and to present from there 
two veins. The southern of these two is called the Dalton 
vein. In fact, during the time when copper was commanding a 
high figure in market, previous to 1861, the excitement here was 
so high that everything containing the slightest trace of cop- 
per was magnified into a vein or lode ; hence, we are informed, 
by some of the old reports still in existence, that in the 
vicinity of Cranberry Plains there were three distinct veins, 
known as the Early, Dalton, and Dickeson leads. Dr. Dicre- 
son, then of Philadelphia (1857), in reporting to the "Dalton 
Mining Company," says : 

" The geology of this mining property belongs to a some- 
what complicated series of rocks. The lodes are contained 
between walls of talco-micaceous slate, belonging to the Silu- 



CARROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 287 

rian epoch or period, but the metamorphic influence they have 
been subjected to has greatly modified its character. The 
summits of the hills we find composed of primordial rocks, 
consisting of imperfect granite, mica slates, talcose slates, and 
immense quartz rocks. On the western descent we meet with 
a series of shaley sandstones and slates, all of a metamorphic 
character. Descending into the valley and ravines, the rocks 
partake of the graywacke and conglomerate series, with alter- 
nating layers, varying in composition and color from an ashy 
gray to a pale blue tint. 

" On the southwestern slope the gossan outcrop is very re- 
markable for its bright red color, and the disintegration, caused 
by atmospheric action, produces a beautiful and permanent 
pigment, that might be applied to many useful purposes. 
Two large quartz veins occur on the property, and in places 
large masses are scattered about in great confusion, com- 
pletely intermixed with the gossans. Three well-defined met" 
alliferous leads coursing north 24° east, and nearly parallel 
to each other, may be traced upon the surface by the gossan 
outcrop ; and, by the depression of the exposed strata, the 
angular dip was ascertained to be 35°. 

" Along the sides of the ravines numerous prospecting 
openings have been made, and each, as far as the character of 
the lode is concerned, shows the same deposit of copper ore. 
There are two large veins of quartz on the Dalton property, 
which I have found to be identical with the matrix or gangue 
stone of the yellow sulphurets exposed in other workings 
upon this lead. This rock, by comparison with that of the 
east side of these leads, differs in not being liable to the 
same decomposition by exposure. This gangue I have traced 
for several miles above ground, and it seems to lie contiguous 
to the iron lead (Great Northern Lode), which follows nearly 
the course of the mountainous ridge. 

" The average width of the quartz veins is about five feet, 



288 CARROLL CO. — NORTHERN LODE. 

and, if we should include the numerous ramifying branches 
that set off from innumerable points, it might be stated much 
wider. Farther on, we find a coalescence of all these ramifi- 
cations ; and, if we are to take the mining rule for granted, 
there must exist, at no great distance, a heavy deposit of ore. 

" The Dalton Mine is situated upon the lead of the same 
name, and consists of seven regular shafts, sunk about 35 feet 
in depth, cutting the lode of smut ore, which enveloped con- 
siderable bodies of black, gray, and red oxides of copper. 
From these shafts there have been driven four horizontal gal- 
leries or levels of variable lengths, from 40 to 150 feet, the 
lode in these dipping at an angle of 45° from the horizon. 

" There are four shafts, which have lately been sunk under 
the direction of Henry Anserote, who now has charge of the 
workings. The southern shaft was sunk 42 feet, through a 
bed of light gossan, and at this depth it coppered over the 
entire shaft ; north, from the above-named shaft, at the depth 
of 36 feet, a fine body of copper ore was cut. They sank on 
the north wall, drove east, and exposed an immense lead of 
copper ore. Four hundred yards north a prospecting shaft 
was sunk 25 feet through gossau, and at that depth struck 
the lode ; this shaft was 40 feet off the lead ; beyond this, 
some 250 yards northeast, they cut through 25 feet of gos- 
san and struck copper ore ; but here the water came upon 
them and drove them out. 

" A shaft has also been sunk on the large quartz vein to the 
depth of 40 feet, where numerous nests and bunches of the 
yellow sulphuret of copper were found, in every respect 
resembling that of the Fentres and M'Culloch Mines, Gilford 
County, N. C. From the observed course of this pyriteous 
vein, I found it to be that of north 24° east, with a dip that 
seemed strongly tending to verticality. It is very desirable that 
these veins should have a vertical dip, as all mining operations 
are much more simple on erect than flat veins, for there is 



CARROLL CO. — GOLD AND SILVER. 2S9 

less cross-cutting required, and fewer winzes have to be sunk 
in the levels. Seams of white quartz, interlaid with seams of 
chloritic green-stone, occur very often along the vein, form- 
ing small feeders, and invariably indicate a greater deposit of 
ore where they unite. This vein does not exactly conform to 
the gossan outcrop lying north of it, nor does it entirely agree 
with the other quartz veins in the vicinity ; and, from the ap- 
pearance of the gangue in the 40-feet shaft, I should judge 
the sulphuret to be not far off. 

"A TABLE OF ANALYSIS UPON SAMPLES OF ORE OBTAINED FROM 
THE DIFFERENT SHAFTS AND OPENINGS UPON THE PROPERTY 
OF THIS COMPANY. 

Mines. Copper Ores. Percentage. 

Dalton Ked oxide 63.04 

" Black oxide 54.02 

" Smut 25.12" 

It may be possible that enough has been thus shown to 
prove the inexhaustible richness of these metalliferous veins, 
under a proper system of mining, aided by cheap transpor- 
tation. 

It would tax the patience of the reader too severely to give 
more details of mining operations on the Great Northern Lode ; 
but enough work has been done, along its whole length, to 
prove that it has great thickness — sometimes reaching 150 
feet ; and that it is sufficiently charged with copper to render 
it one of the most noted copper veins in the world. 

GOLD AND SILVER. 

No well-ascertained information has been obtained, as yet, 

concerning gold and silver. Gold is strongly suspected in the 

Huronian series, occupying the southwestern prolongation 
19 



290 CAEEOLL CO. — MINERAL SPRINGS. 

of the Brush Creek Rocks, which are now yielding gold in 
Montgomery County. Silver is reported to exist in large 
quantities in the ores of the Clifton Mine, in a vein about 
eight feet thick ; but silver mining would seem incredulous. 
The same may be said of nickel and arsenic. 

MICA. 

No mines, yielding large mica, have been opened yet in 
Carroll, though large mica is known to exist in the southern 
part of the county. Asbestos is also known to exist, but is not 
yet explored. 

BUILDING STONES. 

The granitic and gneissoid rocks in the southern part of the 
county afford fine building materials ; some of the granite has 
been used with satisfaction for millstones. 

About Hillsville fine ledges of gneiss afford good building 
stone. The soapstone ledges are also called into requisition, 
from which to make linings to fireplaces, jambs, etc. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

The mineral waters of Carroll have long been known 
throughout this section as among the most curative in Vir- 
ginia. 

The old Grayson Sulphur Springs, on the north bank of 
New River, twenty miles south of Wytheville, has four 
springs, " all of which issue from a slate rock ; three of them 
have openings near each other, within an area of thirty feet 
in diameter, one of' the springs, situated immediately under 
bluffs, and at all times preserving its perfect transparency 
and limpidness, in the small basin which has been excavated 
around it, flows off through a channel ; uj:>on which, im- 
mediately after leaving its basin, it commences to deposit the 
peculiar white material from which the characteristic title 



CAEROLL CO. — WATER POWER. 291 

of White Sulphur is derived. The next, which is similarly 
arranged, throws down a reddish-brown color, hence the name 
of Red Sulphur is given it. The other two appear to be 
chalybeate. The temperature of these springs, which appears 
to be between 47 and 48 degrees, is so low, that besides fur- 
nishing a cool and refreshing draught, they are able to con- 
tain their gaseous contents much longer in a state of combi- 
nation, thus giving them a decided advantage. Owing to the 
presence of carbonic acid gas, the water is found to be what 
is called in familiar terms ■ a light water ;' a term designated 
to express that several glasses may be taken without experi- 
encing any sense of oppression." 

These waters have the powerful adjuvants of wild and ro- 
mantic scenery ; river and mountain combining to render a 
lovely scenery more attractive, and a fine and inconceivably 
bracing air giving a zest of enjoyment which cannot possibly 
be equaled. If that were not enough, the fine trout streams 
of the vicinity afford noble sport, and the hills still contribute 
a deer now and then for the chase. 

TIMBER. 

This county is well supplied with extensive forests of all 
the trees known to the latitude except fir. Toward the 
southern side of the county the timber areas are vast — al- 
most unbroken. There are very good bodies of white pine 
in the northwestern section of the county, and in other por- 
tions. A great deal of the northern half of the county has 
been cut over, and the timber made into charcoal, to supply 
the iron furnaces and the lead mines in Wythe County ; but 
there is enough remaining to supply a large demand for years 
to come. 

WATER POWER. 

If the water power of Carroll could ever be utilized, there 
is enough of it surely to supply an almost unlimited requisi- 



292 CAEEOLL CO. — AGEICULTUEE. 

tion. The fall of New River, as it passes through the county, 
being fully fifteen feet per mile in some places, would give a 
power calculated upon a discharge of 1,150 cubic feet per 
second in very low stages. Chestnut and Crooked Creeks dis- 
charge about 50 feet per second, and fall rapidly. Big Reed 
Island Creek, discharging for a great part of its length 100 feet 
per second and having a good average fall, would supply fine 
powers ; Little Reed Island Creek, of about two thirds the vol- 
ume of Big Reed Island Creek, offers many fine sites for mills, 
etc. Poplar Camp Creek likewise offers a good many mill 
sites, though it is much smaller than the above named. These 
creeks, with their larger tributaries, supply every section of 
the county with ample water facilities of every kind except 
navigation. 

MANUFACTUEES. 

At this time Carroll may boast of an iron forge or two, and 
a few carding machines ; but beyond these its want of trans- 
portation has retarded its movements in the direction of 
manufacturing. No doubt the writer of a few years hence 
will have to record a large number of various kinds of works, 
strev/n along the river and the great metalliferous lodes, if 
the well-known existence of great resources is any incentive. 

AGEICULTUEE. 

The soil of Carroll, like that of Floyd County, is fertile 
where the underlying rock strata do not partake too heavily 
of manganiferous epidote and slate. All ledges partaking of 
trap in their composition, when decomposed, leave a rich and 
permanent soil ; hornblende schist usually follows the same 
rule. Talco-micaceous rocks usually leave a soil easily 
washed, which is not regarded for strength. The absence of the 
great granitic masses, which mark the northern side of Gray- 



CARROLL CO. — FRUITS. 293 

son County, and make it so rich, leaves the northern part of 
Carroll not so well off in agricultural as in mineral wealth. 
The southern half of the county seems to possess by far the 
largest areas of strong lands, except where the lands are suf- 
ficiently level, as those near Woodlawn, to intercept all fer- 
tilizing material and hold it. 

In many places in the county there are good grass lands, 
even to the crests of the high hills. Wheat usually does 
well, perhaps better than corn. Buckwheat, rye, oats, and 
potatoes make never-failing crops. Cattle, sheep, horses, 
and swine do well in the county, as a general thing, being 
raised at very small cost. 

SCENERY. 

In various parts of the county the scenery is wild and 
picturesque. About the river many beautiful views meet 
the eye. Throughout the county the number of wild and 
romantic dells, nearly always having cascades and water- 
falls, is almost beyond belief. The county cannot be said to 
be lacking in this particular. 

FRUITS. 

Carroll, like Grayson, is a good apple county ; but, as to 
other fruits, it is subject to the same risks, as to constancy of 
yield, that neighboring counties are. 

Grapes could be made a specialty in the county with suc- 
cess. 

Bees form an imj)ortant feature, and thrive well. 

Fish will soon be numerous in all the streams, as soon as 
the improved varieties recently placed in New River become 
more numerous. Speckled trout are quite common in the 
streams, proving the character of the streams for fine fish. 



294 CARROLL CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

TRADE EST CATTLE, SHEEP, ETC. 

Of cattle there are 3,000 Lead sold annually, of which 
2,500 head are stock cattle, and 500 head are fat cattle. 
Many of them go to Danville and Salem for shipment. 

There are 100,000 pounds of bacon annually sold at Win- 
ston, N. C, about 50,000 pounds to other points, 300 horses 
annually, and 50 mules. Of sheep there are about 3,000 sold 
annually, and 25,000 pounds of wool, some of which is con- 
sumed at home. 

LINES OF TRANSPORTATION. 

The U. S. Government has had the river examined with a 
view to its improvement ; and the officer in charge has made 
a report favorable to the scheme. 

The Altoona Coal and Iron Co., of Pulaski, are contem- 
plating an extension of their narrow-gauge railway through 
the county. 

The Pittsburg Southern Railway, if extended, may pass 
along the western side of the county, following the river. 

Also, the New River Railroad, now being constructed 
between Hinton, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and New 
River Depot, Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad, may 
be continued up the line of New River, through Carroll, on 
its way to North Carolina. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Hillsville is the county site, nearly in the center of the 
county. It contains, besides the court-house, churches, 
hotels, stores, a good county newspaper, smith shops, repair 
shops, schools, etc. 

There are numerous good trading posts in different parts 
of the county, but there are no places as large as Hillsville 
elsewhere in the county. Its manufacturing facilities will, 
no doubt, one day cause a great change in this particular. 



GRAYSON CO.— HOW BOUNDED. 295 

Public schools will hereafter fare better in Carroll County ; 
the principal obstacle heretofore has been the irregularity in 
the State appropriation to the schools ; hereafter that point 
is met by stringent enactments of recent legislatures. 



GEAYSON COUNTY. 

While Southwestern Virginia can boast of two or three 
good counties located on the plateau of the Cumberland 
Mountains, carrying with them all that reputation for wealth 
in coal which the name Cumberland usually implies, she can 
point with equal pride to the counties lying on the Blue 
Ridge plateau, with their almost immeasurable wealth of 
copper ores, magnetic iron ore, gold, and that numerous list 
of valuable minerals nearly always found in the metamor- 
phic series of rocks. 

Grayson County occupies an enviable position in the list 
of Blue Ridge counties, albeit some of the geographers of 
the day try to throw the Alleghany Mountains to the south 
of this unquestionable Blue Ridge system. 

Grayson, with its lofty, picturesque mountains, high water- 
falls, beautiful rivers and streams, fine grazing and farming 
lands, ores and minerals and noble forests, is not second to 
any in the promise of a fine future. 

It will be regarded as a fortunate circumstance if even 
partial justice can be done to Grayson in this work ; but this 
need not be expected, for it is one of those subjects upon 
which a volume can be exhausted, and still the bulk of the 
story remain untold. 

HOW BOUNDED. 

Grayson is separated from Wythe, Smyth, and Washing- 
ton counties on the north and northwest by the Iron Moun- 



296 GEAYSON CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 

tain Range, which is the true southwestern prolongation of 
the north-lying bifurcation of the Blue Ridge, the rocks being 
identical with those described by Prof. Fontaine as marking 
the Blue Ridge farther east in Virginia. On the south side 
is the State boundary line between Virginia and North Caro- 
lina ; east it is bounded by Carroll County, and west there is 
a small length bordering with the State of Tennessee, being 
separated from it by irregular ranges of lofty mountains 
belonging to the Unaka system. In this series, but not at 
the corner of the States of Virginia, North Carolina, and 
Tennessee, as has been supposed, is the well-known "White 
Top," which rears its crest nearly 6,000 feet above sea level. 

HOW WATERED. 

Grayson is well watered by New River and tributaries. It 
gives rise to no other waters, except perhaps a few of the 
head springs of Laurel Creek — a tributary of Holston River. 
It may be considered one of the best-watered counties in the 
State. Not only does New River carry at all seasons suffi- 
cient water for even navigable purposes, if improved ; but its 
numerous tributaries, flowing from never-failing springs, sup- 
ply a wealth of fine water for every purpose. 

GEOLOGICAL. 

There is a difference of opinion among geologists as to the 
exact classification of the rock formation in Grayson. It may 
be stated here with confidence, that the assertion will be 
finally sustained, that the southern side of the county is in 
the gneissoid system, belonging to the Laurentian rocks, and 
that the northern side of the county is marked by the rocks 
of the Huronian epoch. The trend, or direction of the out- 
crop of the strata is between north 45 3 east and north 
65 c east. The dip is usually southwardly, or rather, at 



GRAYSON COUNTY. 



297 



© 



3 

| 



5* 



Xwhite Top 
BuckMlnA 




PPER LODF. 



tfeach lott om , 
'Mountain 



13* 



298 GEAYSON CO. — GEOLOGICAL. 

riglit angles to the trend. It is apparently monoclinal, that 
is, the ledges all seem to dip in one direction at greater 
or less angles, and do not now show the evidence of any 
folding in the earth's crust there, other than a close simi- 
larity in the appearance of many of the ledges, and an 
evident recurrence of the same mineral-bearing series. From 
the latter circumstance it may be inferred that anticlinal 
folds have occurred, though to make out now, in these par- 
tially metamorphosed rocks, any distinct order of stratifi- 
cation or superposition would be impossible. The rocks 
of Grayson undoubtedly belong to that long period of tran- 
sition between the unstratified Azoic and that series which, 
more than any other, has the right to be called the first of 
fossil-bearing rocks — the Lower Potsdam, or the first of the 
Cambrian or Lower Silurian. Therefore the mineralogist 
may not be surprised at finding the following list of miner- 
als, though the existence of some of them is more suspected 
than positively ascertained as yet : 

Garnet, hornblende, kyanite, corundum, and staurotide, all 
of which are known to exist. Labradorite, magnetite, trap, 
oligoclase, orthoclase, albite, chloritis, manganesian epidote, 
rutile, talc, actinolite, mica (phlogopite, biotite, muscovite), 
quartz, limestone, tourmaline, beryl, asbestos, steatite ; gran- 
ite of several varieties, including porphyritic granite, syenite, 
and such metalliferous ores in quantity as copper and iron 
pyrites, magnetite (as mentioned), specular ore, brown iron 
ore, and occasionally arsenic, antimony, silver, lead, and 
gold, with the existence of nickel strongly suspected. 

At least two cross-sections would be desirable ; but one 
will be sufficient to give a very fair idea of the general posi- 
tion of the rocks, the trend being somewhat uniform through- 
out. 

Beginning on the south, about where the Peach Bottom 
Mountain crosses the Virginia line, we encounter a band of 



GRAYSON CO. — IRON ORES. 299 

hornblende, slates, steatites, then mica and talc schists, 
quartzites, etc., which lie between the great Ore Knob 
Copper Lode and the Peach Bottom Copper Vein ; then going 
north, when in the vicinity of the last-named vein, you en- 
counter talco-mica slates — a broad band — occasionally inter- 
stratified with mica schists ; then at about half a mile more, 
over occasional bands of gneiss, with some manganiferous 
epidote to a broad ledge of soapstone ; then over gneissoid 
strata and a succession of talco-mica slates and schists to the 
great iron and copper pyrites lode, which makes such extra- 
ordinary surface showings in Carroll County. Then for six 
or eight miles, over a succession of talco-mica slates and 
schists and manganiferous epidotes and slates in almost any 
order of succession, with some soapstone, we reach the 
southern limit of the great granitic bands which show on so 
large a scale in Buck Mountain, Point Lookout, and that 
range of rocks. These are about six miles in thickness, then 
they begin to give way to rocks which are less granitic for 
the more purely felspathic series, which in turn give way to 
the hydro-mica slates capping the Huronian system in Iron 
Mountain ; in the last four or five miles crossing that system, 
which is now yielding gold in interesting quantities farther 
northeast in Montgomery County. 

IRON ORES. 

The iron ores of greatest importance in Grayson are the 
magnetites. Brown ores exist toward the southern and 
southeastern part of the county ; but mainly as gossans or 
hydrate d peroxides, resulting from the decomposition of 
pyrites. The same veins of iron and copper pyrites, which 
show such immense beds of gossan on the surface in Carroll 
County, do not present so great a surface showing, in that 
way, in Grayson. Notwithstanding this fact, there are very 



300 GRAYSON CO. — IRON ORES. 

flattering indications of brown ores here and there along the 
pyrites vein in the neighborhood of New River, and on the 
Southern Copper Lode in the extreme southeastern part of 
the county. 

Specular ores are found in quite a number of localities in 
the county. Oue vein, somewhat less than six feet thick, 
shows in the south slope of Iron Mountain. Its purity has 
not yet been determined ; but the quantity of the ore must 
be very great, as the measure, no doubt, extends for a great 
many miles. There are, occasionally, micaceous looking 
pieces of specular ore found ; but no positive data have, as 
yet, been gathered relative to the quantity and the various 
localities in which it shows most prominently. 

The magnetic iron ore of this county is found in veins that 
may be said to lie in the northeastern prolongation of the 
celebrated beds of Mitchell County, North Carolina. There 
are three distinct measures running parallel with each other, 
from a locality on the State line a little south of the mouth 
of Wilson, pursuing a direction north 75° east through the 
Billings land and to the south of Independence, and on to the 
eastern limit of the county, crossing New River, the last time, 
about three and a half miles north of Old Town. Along the 
course of these very valuable veins they hold very different 
measures : eleven feet, one of them, at the Billings Mine ; 
another, to the south of that one, reported nearly one hun- 
dred feet thick ; again, as you approach the eastern line of 
the county, near the river, neither of the three exceeds three 
and a half feet in thickness. It is hardly necessary to go 
into a more full description of each place at which the ore 
of these veins is exposed. Any one can take the map and 
readily find the general locality in which they occur. It 
might be of interest to describe fully the showing at Billings, 
as from it a better idea may be had of the rock material ac- 
companying that vein, which appears here to be the north- 



GRAYSON CO. — IRON PYRITES. 301 

ward vein of this series. The vein at Billings, or the Brush 
Creek Mines, four miles southwest of Independence, is eleven 
feet thick, having on one side of it pyrites of iron and copper 
in valuable proportions (perhaps nickel), roof of hornblende, 
schists, and slates, floor of same, quartz predominating. In 
this floor is a seven inch vein of spar, apparently fluor spar. 
The dip here is 6CP southeastwardly, and the trend, which is 
local at this place, is nearly northeast. The vein matter will 
yield thirty per cent, of fine ore. Now and then fragments 
of fine magnetite are found in a line to the north of this 
series, as at Mason's, of Elk Creek, but no developments have 
as yet proven the thickness of the vein. The prospect of a 
fine body of ore being found on the river within three or four 
miles of Old Town is very good. The character of the frag- 
ments obtained there — for instance near Cherry Grove — is of 
the highest order ; and, judging from the size of the pieces 
lying on the surface, the veins must be of good dimensions. 
Two forges in the county have been or are now using ores 
from these veins : one on Little Biver southwest from Old 
Town, and the other, perhaps discontinued now, on New 
Kiver, eight miles southwest from Independence. Bunning 
along with this series of veins, in places, is a seam of specular 
ore, not yet found over eight inches thick. 

IRON PYRITES. 

It would be interesting to know the number of ledges of 
rock, besides well-recognized veins and lodes in Grayson, 
which are more or less heavily impregnated with pyrites. 
That some of the pyritous-bearing subjects carry gold in 
good quantity, and now and then nickel, there can be but 
little doubt. 

The strictly iron pyrites, however, is a largely preponder- 
ating constituent in three of the great metalliferous measures 



302 GKAYSON CO. — IRON PYRITES. 

of the county, namely, the Northern Copper Lode, the Peach 
Bottom Copper Lode, and the Southern or Ore Knob Lode, 
which cuts into the extreme southeastern corner of the 
county. 

The Northern (or Iron Lode) is from nine to fifteen feet 
thick, and shows, as at Hampton's, a pyrotite and copper 
pyrites combined ; in some parts of the vein giving an aver- 
age of five per cent, of copper, the rest being iron and sul- 
phur having the appearance of holding nickel. 

The course of this lode is, for a part of its way, through 
Grayson, northeast. Coming into the county, at a point a 
mile or two southwest of Dowten's Ford, it continues on by 
Hampton's close to the mouth of Little River, thence on by a 
point somewhat more than a mile north of Old Town, in 
the direction of the great outburst in Carroll County, about 
fifteen miles length in Grayson. That this sulphureted vein 
would become an important commercial feature in the 
county, in case of cheap modes of transportation, there can 
be no doubt. The openings made at Hampton's and other 
places amply prove its continuity and size. Along it there 
is not so much gossan as on the Southern Lode. 

The Peach Bottom Lode is charged, for the most part, with 
copper pyrites only, and its iron pyrites is really too small 
in amount to require mention. 

The Southern Lode seems altogether, in places, to be com- 
posed of iron pyrites when you get down low enough below 
the decomposed ores to strike it. This lode being sometimes 
forty feet thick, the quantity of ore in it may be imagined. 

There are localities in which pyrites is sometimes a large 
constituent of the rocks — on Elk Creek, Fox Creek, Wilson 
Creek, and on the streams in the western part of the county 
in the slopes of the Balsam and White Top Mountains. 
This is the range of ores which is most likely to yield gold 
in paying quantities. 



GRAYSON CO. — COPPER. 303 

MANGANESE. 

Manganese is a large constituent in many of the rocks, but 
is not developed in any distinct veins in sufficient quantities 
to pay for mining. 

LEAD. 

Lead is found interjected with the copper ore in the Peach 
Bottom Lode, and may be valuable on account of the silver 
it is known to carry. 

It is also known to exist in a rock having the appearance of 
trap, which trends through about two and a half miles south of 
Elk Creek Post Office. 

It is highly probable, if this were followed up, it would 
lead to something valuable. 

COPPER. 

This is an unsatisfactory subject to treat, so little is known 
of the great veins which hold it — at any depth. 

Copper pyrites can be detected in a great many of the 
ledges of rock in the county ; but the probability is that it is 
likely to be found in paying quantities in the Northern Lode 
passing Hampton's, the Peach Bottom, or Middle Lode, the 
Southern Lode, and in one of the sides of the Brush Creek or 
Billings Vein. 

In the first or Northern Lode it has already been found to 
yield, in some places, an average of five per cent, of copper, 
though this may not hold as a rule. In the Peach Bottom 
Lode, in this county, no developments of any consequence 
have, as yet, been made ; and it might be premature to assign 
to it the same character it has at the Peach Bottom Mine in 
Alleghany County, N. C. On the Southern or Ore Knob Lode 
in Grayson, it has been inferred, from the live character of the 
gossan, that there must be a good percentage of copper below. 



304 GRAYSON CO. — SILVER. 

GOLD. 

So important a statement as that there are immense quan- 
tities of the precious yellow metal in the county should, no 
doubt, be made with a great deal of caution ; yet such is the 
opinion advanced here, after an investigation of some length. 

That the gold exists in the parent rock in sufficient 
quantities to pay for extraction is rather a premature state- 
ment to make ; but that the disintegration of these Huronian 
rocks has, through ages, left paying quantities in the debris 
and drift along the streams, is confidently believed. The 
region of Elk Creek participates in this distribution. In all 
likelihood a line parallel with the course of Iron Mountain, 
about the distance from that mountain that Elk Creek Post 
Office is, clear through the county, would be in a gold-bearing 
series. The gold, it may be submitted, results from the de- 
composition of a pyritous quartz and felspathic band, which 
seems to follow this line, showing with some distinctness, also, 
on the bank of New River, a few miles above the old Gray- 
son Sulphur Springs, on the line between Grayson and Carroll. 

Elk Creek, however, in the beautiful valley that looks, in 
spring time, like a jewel from heaven, on the north side of 
Point Lookout, is the district most likely to pay the intelli- 
gent prospector. 

The question may well be asked, if this be true, why 
should so valuable a metal have lain there so long without 
being found out long ere this ? The same might be said with 
equal propriety of the Brush Creek gold belt in Montgomery, 
which the miner, only the other day, never even so much as 
suspected to contain gold. Now it is attracting universal 
attention. 

SILVER. 

Silver has been found by close analysis to exist in the ores 
of the Peach Bottom Lode ; in what quantities, however, it 



GKAYSON CO. — GRANITE AND SYENITE. 305 

has not been determined. Also, in the Northern Copper and 
Iron Pyrites Lode one chemist found it. It is highly prob- 
able that deep mining only on these veins will find it in pay- 
ing quantities. 

Then we may also hope that these veins, following the 
habit of similar ones in Cornwall, will also yield tin. 

LIMESTONE. 

Only one ledge of limestone is known to show in the county. 
That crosses the turnpike leading from the mouth of Wilson 
to Marion. It is in sufficient quantities to be highly valuable.. 

FELSPAR. 

There are apparently all the varieties of felspar; in this 
county, the scientific names for which are orthoclase* , oligo- 
clase, and albite, comprising the important kinds, such as 
labradorite, etc. Orthoclase, which is distinctly the potash 
variety, is quite abundant, sometimes in measures, eight feet 
thick, as at Elk Creek, in several places on the road from 
Blue Springs Gap to Independence, and at many other points; 
east and west. From the decomposition of this rock, which 
contains about 14 pounds of potash to the 100 pounds of 
rock, and other felspathic varieties, Elk Creek owes the ex- 
ceeding fertility of its soil. 

From these ledges of pure felspar a fertilizer may yet be de- 
vised which, if used in connection with the gypsum from the 
inexhaustible beds of Smyth County, will render it possible, 
at a very moderate expense, to bring up worn-out or unpro- 
ductive lands to a high state of fertility. 

GRANITE AND SYENITE. 

Granite of every variety is found in Point Lookout and 
Buck Mountains. It may also be found in the spurs of the 



306 GRAYSON CO. — WATER POWER. 

Balsam and White Top Mountains, and again far to the east 
near the eastern side of the county ; but its positions of 
greatest purity and compactness seem to be Point Lookout 
and Buck Mountains, and their vicinity, even the black and 
white being there, the porphyritic, and that which graduates 
into the syenitic, finally showing true syenite. As a building 
or ornamental stone there are great masses of it which could 
not well be excelled. 

ASBESTOS. 

This mineral exists in some quantity along a belt just south 
of the Northern Copper Lode. It has been found in handsome 
specimens on Little River and below the Hampton Mine. It 
is reported also from Black's, in the western section of the 
county, not far from Grant. 

SOAPSTONE. 

There are great masses of good soapstone following the 
range north of Peach Bottom Mountains, extending for many 
miles through the county ; also in beds still further north. 
It will be found useful in furnace lining and for building pur- 
poses. 

TIMBER. 

There is a great variety of fine trees in Grayson. White 
pine is abundant in the south spurs of Iron Mountain, Bal- 
sam Mountain, and White Top and points along the river. 
White oak, chestnut oak, chestnut, etc., are very plentiful. 
Timber is so abundant in nearly every part of the county that 
some easy means of getting it out would insure a bountiful 
supply of very cheap charcoal to the furnace men for years to 
come. 

WATER POWER. 

On account of the invariable flow, at all seasons, of a large 
number of fine streams, over rapidly descending beds, this 



GRAYSON CO. — AGRICULTURE. 307 

county must be regarded as having fully as much water power 
as any in the State. Including the river, which, here and 
there, has sufficient fall, any force, from 1,000 cubic feet per 
second down to 10, can be had with but little outlay — Little 
River, Elk Creek, Wilson Creek, Fox Creek, Peach Bottom 
Creek, Bridle, the upper ends of Little and Big Helton Creeks, 
Grassy Creek, Brush Creek, Knob Fork, and two or three 
others in different parts of the county. It would be idle, as 
well as unfair, to institute a comparison between, or to attempt 
a description of, particular locations. All of these creeks afford 
excellent powers every mile or two for all the purposes of 
milling and manufacturing, which, taken in connection with 
the constancy of the streams, renders the county, in this re- 
spect, the superior of nearly all the counties in the State. 

MANUFACTURES. 

There are very few manufactories in the county, except a 
carding machine or two, and the Little Biver Forge, now in 
operation. There are the usual grist and saw-mills in every 
neighborhood ; but, for want of facilities of transportation, 
there has been no inducement to build any extensive factories 
of any kind, though the people are sufficiently enterprising. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The different parts of the county are very diverse in their 
agricultural features. Wherever the granitic, or more fel- 
spathic series predominates, the soil seems stronger and more 
capable in every respect. Where the streaks of manganiferous 
epidote and the more easily decomposed talco-mica slates are, 
there you find an unsatisfactory soil ; but happily, as to the 
great body of the lands, the latter are in the smallest propor- 
tion. It is plain to be seen that the soil throughout is the 
result of the decomposition of the rocks in each locality ; 
wherever the rocks have been chiefly composed of alumina 



308 GEATSON CO. — SCENERY. 

(or clay material), silica, and potash, soda or lime, there are 
the finest soils. Elk Creek is a good example of this. No- 
where in Virginia can a more beautiful scene be found than 
Elk Creek Valley affords, looked at from any of its surround- 
ing hills. Its beauty and loveliness are owing to the matchless 
character of the material composing its soil. With but little 
attention, here and there, in the steep portions, these lands 
would never lose their fertility. On the contrary, they ought 
to increase in productive capacity each succeeding year. 

But Elk Creek is not the only beautiful gem in Gray- 
son. The hills, often steep, are crowned with that growth to 
the summits which indicates the strength of the soil. Fre- 
quently upon the tops of ridges nearly 4,000 feet above sea 
level some of the finest corn-fields are to be seen. Beginning 
on the Upper Heltons, Grassy Creek, and coming over each 
succeeding creek and ridge until you reach the eastern limits 
of the county, there are thousands of acres of land, at from 
$5 to $15 per acre, which would prove far more productive 
than twice the same quantity in localities farther east. There 
is nothing raised in this latitude which these lands are not 
caj:>able of producing in abundance. 

SCENERY. 

A valuable collection of fine views could be obtained in 
this county. "Whether landscape scenery, such as that pre- 
sented by the incomparable scope along Elk Creek, or ex- 
tended views from high mountains, or the fine pictures made 
up by waterfalls over 100 feet high in mountain dells strewn 
with massive rocks, all the same could the lover of the beau- 
tiful in nature find every sense gratified. The river, as it 
winds back and forth between the high hills, offers many 
lovely views. There are few localities in the county that can- 
not produce some well-known point of interest in the line of 
scenery. Many of them if painted and exhibited would com- 



GRAYSON CO. — TRADE IN CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, ETC. 309 

mand the admiration of the most experienced and critical 
observers. 

FRUITS. 

The apples of Grayson have commanded for years a very 
wide fame in the surrounding country for their flavor and ex- 
cellence. 

While the apple seems to be in its native home here, the 
peach, quince, pear, cherry, and plum are regarded as sure to 
make a crop each year in Grayson as in any other locality. 

Grape culture could be carried to high perfection in the 
county, judging from the abundance of native varieties. 
There has been but little effort made to improve the old or to 
introduce new varieties. Diseases of any kind seem never to 
have attacked the grape in Grayson. No doubt the soil, and 
the large area of southern exposures, would make grape cul- 
ture very successful if native varieties were used. 

Bee culture could be brought to a high state of perfection 
on account of the large number of flowering plants and trees, 
and the abundance of moist places for the bees to use in the 
hollows. 

Fish culture, after the county is rendered more accessible 
by railways, will become an important feature, not only for 
mere sporting purposes, but from an economic point of view. 
The streams are peculiarly well adapted to every species of 
game fish. The mountain trout is now very common in nearly 
all the streams, and in some of them affords excellent sport. 
The New River catfish reaches its highest perfection in this 
county. Unlike his namesake in the western waters, he is 
here regarded fully equal to the best table fish in excellency 
of flavor and all other good points. 

TRADE IN CATTLE, SHEEP, WHEAT, CORN, AND TOBACCO. 

The possible trade of this county in all the staples would 
be difficult to approximate under the favorable conditions of 



310 GRAYSON CO. — TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

cheap and abundant transportation. Besides being naturally 
a good cattle and farming county, Grayson is capable of 
making good tobacco. The record of the number of cattle 
and sheep now annually sold is no just estimate of her capac- 
ity ; for, with the stimulus resulting from increased means of 
transportation, without clearing any more land even, the 
county would increase its revenues from all classes of prod- 
uce fully tenfold, if not more. 

There has been great improvement of late years in cattle 
and sheep. Elk Creek and Bridle Creek seem to have led 
off in this direction. Shorthorns in cattle, and Cotswold 
and Shropshire-downs in sheep, seem to be the favorites. 

The county sends about 1,100 cattle every year, which, 
directly or indirectly, make their way to Euroj)ean markets, 
and her total sale of 

Cattle annually is about 3,800 head. 

Sheep " " 4,000 " 

Wool, mostly used up at home, about . 9,000 pounds. 

The quantity of wheat, corn, and tobacco now being ex- 
ported is scarcely worthy of notice. 

Grayson sells annually a large quantity of bacon ; but is 
now doing but little with horses, except improving the stock 
in some quarters. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

The county site is Independence, situated somewhat east 
of the center of the county. It has the usual number of 
hotels, churches, stores, saddleries, smith-shops, etc. The 
Grayson Clipper, a progressive weekly newspaper, is pub- 
lished there. Old Town, once the county site before the 
county was divided, is situated toward the southeastern end 
of the county, near the Carroll County line. It is about one 
mile south of New River, and is the center of a good trading 



ASHE COUNTY, N. C. 311 

arid mining region. There are stores," churches, a hotel and 
post-office there. Mouth of Wilson, Elk Creek, Bridle 
Creek, Grant, Greer's, Carsonville, and one or two other 
points are good trading posts, and now annually collect and 
send off, besides other produce, a large tonnage in medicinal 
herbs, roots, etc. 

The public schools are being better protected by the State 
government, and are gaining greatly in the estimation of the 
people. 

ASHE COUNTY, N. C. 

It would ill become any one to attempt to give a thorough 
resume of the mineral resources of any part of North Caro- 
lina, after that work had once been done by such men as 
Keee, Hunt, and Genth ; but, as the counties of Ashe, Alle- 
ghany, and Wautauga are directly in a continuation of the 
great and massive belts which pass through Floyd, Carroll, 
and Grayson in Virginia, a feeble attempt to show this con- 
tinuation may well be excused. 

Ashe County seems to exemplify all of the best that may 
be said with respect to the series of rocks of which it is 
composed, besides presenting a rich and charming scenery of 
unsurpassed loveliness in its lofty lone mountains and roman- 
tic gorges. Eying as it does at the head of nearly all the 
great rivers that flow in every direction from it, its elevation 
gives it a summer climate unequaled for health, to which 
crystal freestone water from thousands of never-failing springs 
lends a security far beyond the conception of any one who 
has never felt its influence. 

Ashe lies in the plateau of the Blue Ridge and Unaka 
Ranges, having one on the south and southeast boundary, 
and the other on the northern and western sides, having 
Grayson, Va., on the north, Alleghany, N. C, on the east, 



312 ASHE CO., N. C. — GEOLOGICAL. 

Wilkes and Wautauga, N. C, on the south, and Johnson 
County, Tenn., on the west. 

HOW WATERED. 

The county is excellently well watered by the North and 
South Forks of New Kiver, which yield a water power for 
every mile of their course of great reliability, and of any 
desirable volume. 

GEOLOGICAL. 

To use distinctions which are more or less arbitrary, Ashe 
shows the rocks of the Laurentian and Huronian epochs, 
sometimes placed under the general ajrpellation of the meta- 
morphic series. 

They include granite, gneiss, syenite, quartz, hornblende, 
mica and talc, chlorite, mica and talc schists and slates, 
gray soapstone, epidote, felspars of all varieties, trap, zeo- 
lites, actinolite, and many others, the lithology of which 
would be entirely obscure to the general reader. Pure gran- 
ite is rare in the county ; but, toward the southern side prin- 
cipally, there are broad bands of gneiss, as those showing 
about Ore Knob. As you go north of this there are extra- 
ordinary bands of hornblende, followed by mica and talc 
slates, soapstone, epidote, etc., in recurring series, all pur- 
suing a course nearly north 70° east and south 70° west, with a 
dip varying between 30° southwardly on the north side to the 
perpendicular toward the south side of the county. In the 
gneissoid system, nearer the Blue Eidge, are the copper veins 
in which Ore Knob and Copper Knob are situated ; while, fol- 
lowing the hornblendic series near the northern middle part 
of the county, are the copper veins in which Elk Knob Mine 
and Phoenix copper ores are situated. Toward the northern 
side, on and near to the North Fork of New Kiver, are the 
great bands of magnetic ore in the epidotic series in part, 



ASHE CO., N. C. — COPPER. 313 

and in the gneissic and liornblendic running along with it 
and just south of it. 

COPPER. 

The copper range in Ashe is admittedly one of the best 
and most reliable in the world. The Ore Knob Mine has 
sufficiently demonstrated this point, the quantity of cement 
copper and ingot produced since 1872 not being far from 
25,000,000 pounds; last year having shipped 2,436,392 
pounds of ingot copper. The energetic and efficient manage- 
ment there having erected, in a surprisingly short space of 
time, a singularly efficient and entirely satisfactory plant, 
including machinery and furnaces, the capable mine soon 
began and continued to yield returns that have fallen at only 
rare intervals below the expectations resulting from the 
thoroughly practical tests of the management, sustained by 
the no less excellent investigations of Dr. Hunt. 

This mine lies in what is familiarly known in Yirginia as 
the Southern Lode, its continuation in Virginia showing ex- 
cellent copper ore at the Toncray Mine in Floyd County, Va., 
and immense quantities of gossan near Sparta. Again, to 
the southwest of Ore Knob, at one or two points, as Mu- 
latto Mountain, this lode shows strong surface indications. 
Some persons are rather inclined to the belief that Copper 
Knob, or Gap Creek Mine, is also in this lode ; but a careful 
examination proves it to lie south of the Ore Knob Lode. 

This vein or lode, as it shows at Ore Knob, is declared by 
Kerr to be the most remarkable of the many copper veins 
showing in North Carolina. He says : 

That though it was opened before the war, it was not until 
it fell into the hands of the present owners, in 1871, that it 
began to show its real character. "These gentlemen have 
opened the vein by a series of shafts and tuDnels, and have 
been repaid by the discovery of a body of ore which is not 
equaled by any mine I know of outside of Ducktown. . . . 
14 



314 ASHE CO., N. C. — COPPER. 

" The rock of the region is a gray and usually thin bedded 
gneiss, with mica schists and slates. These have a prevalent 
strike a little east of northeast, and dip east at a tolerably 
high angle ; though both dip and strike are subject to con- 
siderable variation. The walls of the copper vein are mica- 
ceous gneiss and mica slates, with a strike north 57° east, 
and dipping southeast at an angle 40° or 45°. The copper 
vein is coincident in strike with the rocks, but is vertical in 
dip, cutting across the strata, so that it is a true fissure vein, 
and not bedded like those at Ducktown. It is traceable by 
an outcrop of gossan for more than a mile, and has been 
proved by trial shafts and trenches for nearly 2,000 feet. 
The breadth of the lode varies from 6 to 15 feet (is stated to 
measure 20 in some cases, which is true), averaging about 10 
probably." Prof. Kerr then goes on to speak of the number 
of shafts then sunk at the time of his visit, etc. Now there 
are eight shafts over a length of about 800 feet, the principal 
of which are the Engine Shaft on the crest of the hill, and 
Nos. 2 and 3 south. The mine has been carried to a depth 
of 350 feet. Prof. Kerr goes on to say : " There is, properly 
speaking, no gangue stone, the whole breadth of the fissure 
being filled with ore. The gossan, which is decomposed 
oxidized ore, extends to an average depth of over 50 feet in 
the different shafts, the lower half containing, however, a 
valuable percentage of copper in the form of oxide and mala- 
chite. Below this level of oxidation the ore is sulphuret of 
copper." Dr. Hunt gave the gossan yield at 14 to 22 per 
cent, of copper, and the sulphurets of iron and copper were 
last winter yielding an ore which assayed fully as much. 
An inspection of the sketch and section on the adjacent 
pages may perhaps lead to a better understanding of the 
immense amount of work done at this mine. The nearest 
furnace showing in the sketch is a reducing furnace, the next 
one (near the end of the railway) is a reducing furnace, and 



ASHE CO., N. C. — COPPER, AND GOLD, AND SILVER. 315 

also holds the refining furnace. The large building at the 
upper end of the railway is the ore-house, holding the crush- 
ing machinery, etc., while beyond it is the sky-house, which 
is erected over the engine shaft. 

The operations about this mine for the last nine years have 
had the effect of creating an immense business throughout 
that region on a paying basis. The amount of money an- 
nually put in circulation for labor and supplies must be very 
great. 

COPPER, AND GOLD, AND SILVER. 

The ores taken in Mulatto Mountain, from what has been 
commonly accepted as the southwestern continuation of the 
Ore Knob Lode, yield an average as follows : Copper, 3 per 
cent. ; gold, $2.05 per ton ; silver, $2.80 per ton. These ores 
were taken from a vein 5| feet thick ; but it is barely possible 
that this vein lies about a half mile to the north of a point 
where the Ore Knob Vein should be, if continued. Mulatto 
Mountain is ten miles southwest from Ore Knob. 

Copper Knob 3Iine, situated in the Blue Eidge, near the 
Ashe-Wautauga line, was found, upon a close examination, to 
agree very fully with Kerr's description, which is as follows : 

" This is a quartz vein, or rather a group of them ; the 
principal one carrying variegated copper, with a little chalco- 
pyrite, malachite, chrysocalla, specular iron pyrite, together 
with visible free gold and silver. The vein is in a large body 
of hornblende slate, though the prevalent rock of the section 
is a gray gneiss, with a strike north 60° east, and dip south- 
east 40°. The vein is a true fissure, with a direction north 
35° west ; dip, northeast 45°. Dr. Emmons, who visited the mine 
when it was open, says, ' This is a true vein, and has a perfect 
regularity in direction, as well as in its walls.' The width 
is variable, being 18 inches at the surface, and from 12 to 24 
inches at different depths below ground." The ore, analyzed 



316 ASHE CO., N. C. — COPPER, AND GOLD, AND SILVER. 

by Mr. Manross, gave "gold, If ounces, and silver, 18 ounces 
per ton of mixed rock and ore." Handsome specimens of 
purple copper ore from the center of the vein, showing much 
free gold to the eye, yielded about $2600 in gold to the 
ton. 

The next great series of copper deposits in Ashe lies four 
miles north of, and nearly parallel with, the Ore Knob Lode, 
about the middle of the county. This line of ores is in the 
southwestern continuation of the Peach Bottom Lode ; chiefly 
shows in a decomposing micaceous gneiss, and toward Elk 
Knob in hornblendic strata. 

Near Jefferson, at "Weaver's, and at Foster's, near Phoenix 
Mountain, there are fissure veins cutting the strata. They are 
accompanied with quartz, and often show a thickness of nine 
feet. The average yield of these veins is very hard to deter- 
mine from present workings, but much of the mass is a very 
pure sulphuret of copper. Occasionally, copper glance is 
found. 

Elk Knob Copper Vein, really in Wautauga County, seems 
to be nearly at a point where the Peach Bottom continued 
that way would strike, but it is in an entirely different kind 
of rock from Peach Bottom Vein. Elk Knob Vein has been 
very well exposed by the owners in several places, and is at 
different points variable in thickness ; in one deep ravine 
being seven feet, and, at another point, sixteen feet thick. 
The vein seems to be largely composed of mimetic ; but yields 
fine specimens of gray copper ore and copper pyrites, all 
mixed with a low percentage of gold and silver. 

This vein is undoubtedly a valuable copper vein, but has 
been badly prospected. If due regard had been observed as 
to the carbonate of copper showing in the gossan at different 
points, and the shafts sunk accordingly, much more satisfac- 
tory results would have been achieved. As it is, the work 
was done wherever the vein was most accessible, and, unfortu- 



ASEE CO., N. C. — IRON ORE. 317 

nately, the poorer alternations in the vein were thus exposed. 
There are extraordinary surface indications along this vein 
for some miles in length — mostly gossan or oxidized ore. 

Then, again, on the north side of Phoenix Mountain, there 
are evidences of the southwestern continuation of what is 
known in Virginia as the Northern, or Hampton Copper Lode. 
No developments of consequence have ever been made on it 
in Ashe ; although, now and then, gossan may be detected 
along it in considerable quantities. 

There are other places in the county where copper ores have 
been found, sometimes in flattering quantities, as at Wither- 
spoons, the Old Meat Camp Mine, etc.; but the thickness of 
the veins has generally not been sufficient to warrant much 
outlay. 

IRON ORE. 

The iron ore in Ashe of greatest value is found in the 
magnetic bands on, and north of, the North Fork of New 
River. At Ballou's, on North Fork, the great magnetic vein 
was found to be massive ore, accompanied with hornblende, 
talc, mica, and, occasionally, tremolite-trap and quartz as in- 
soluble constituents, in the proportion of nearly 20 per cent, 
of the vein, at a point where the vein is 30 feet thick ; trend, 
north 55 D east. Just south of this vein, about 250 yards, is 
another vein of the same ore, separated from the first vein 
by a material which is mainly hornblende schist, mica slate, 
and schist and gneiss, general trend being south 55° west. 
This vein is 5 feet thick ; while the larger, though for 300 
feet 30 feet thick, is generally not over 15 feet — sometimes 
12. These veins are continuous, either way, for many miles. 
These ores contain about 0.026 of phosphorus, and no titan- 
ium, by John Fulton's analysis. 

Then, again, in the gneiss, etc., of Helton and Horse Creeks 
are massive ores, coarse, granular, and highly magnetic. 



318 ASHE CO., N. C. — KAOLIN. 

Professor Kerr says, on Helton Creek, six or eight miles 
east of the Horse Creek ores, " are still larger deposits of very 
pure magnetic ore which has been long used in the forges of 
the neighborhood. The ore is a close-grained and very pure 
magnetite, one of the beds of which is reported to be eighteen 
feet in thickness, and another nine feet." 

Toward the junction of the North and South Forks of New 
Kiver, in the northeastern prolongation of the Ballou veins, 
a forge has been running for some time, making a bar-iron of 
the highest quality. 

Limonites, of great purity, are common in the gGssans of the 
different copper veins. Ore Knob, Elk Knob, and the north 
side of Phoenix Mountain show very considerable deposits. 
The south flanks of the Balsam and White Top Mountains 
show specular ores, but the quantity is not easily ascertain- 
able. 

MICA. 

Large-sized mica is found abundantly in Ashe, in a line of 
dikes composed of felspar, quartz, and mica, pursuing a 
course through the central part of the county, northeast and 
southwest, at an angle with the strike of the rocks. The 
largest developments yet made are at the Little Mine on the 
South Fork of New River, at Harden's, and at places on the 
head of Three Top Creek. There are also large pieces of 
mica reported from the south spurs of Balsam Mountain and 
White Top. The two veins at the Little Mine are respective- 
ly 30 and 18 feet thick, and are apparent for about one eighth 
of a mile, though there is no doubt of their continuation for 
miles either way. 

KAOLIN. 

Fine kaolin, resulting from the decomposition of albite in 
these mica veins, is very plentiful. 



ALLEGHANY COUNTY, N. C. 319 

Felspar. — Very pure felspars exist in large quantities in the 
dikes holding large mica. 

Asbestos is found in a line of rocks three miles north of Jef- 
ferson, the county site, but the quantity is not great. In the 
south spurs of White Top -Mountain, near Black's, it is said to 
be in quantity and of good quality. 

TALC. 

A nearly pure talc or steatite is found in many sections of 
the county, but that found in the east face of Elk Ridge is 
preferred at Ore Knob Copper Mine for furnace lining. It is 
easily sawn into blocks of any desirable size. 

TIMBER AND CHARCOAL. 

The timber of the county is of every conceivable variety 
known to the latitude, and in forests of unlimited extent. 
Charcoal, except in the immediate neighborhood of the copper 
furnaces, could be had in great abundance for years to come 
at a merely nominal figure. 

The lines of transportation through Ashe, as to railways, 
are only as yet projected. Possibly the Statesville and Vir- 
ginia Eailroad may, at some early day, be built, passing near 
Ore Knob ; and there may be others of which the writer 
knows nothing. 



ALLEGHANY COUNTY, N. C. 

This county is much like Ashe in its geological features ; 
lying just east of Ashe, it holds the northeastern continua- 
tion of its copper veins. 

The Peach Bottom Copper Lode shows to best advantage 
at Peach Bottom Copper Mine on Elk Creek in this county. 
It now shows about nine feet of ore in walls of a highly 



320 THE COUNTIES OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. 

micaceous gneiss, or mica slate, sometimes talcose. The ore 
is usually copper pyrites ; occasionally purple copper ore, with 
a considerable admixture of galenite. It is claimed for this 
mine that it will yield largely, also, in nickel, antimony, and 
arsenic. This vein has a dip southwardly approaching the 
perpendicular, and a strike east of northeast. It is contin- 
uous for miles. Has been actively developed to a depth of 
over 150 feet within the last year. 

On the Ore Knob, or Southern Lode, south of Peach Bottom 
Mountain, are the great deposits of gossan or limonite, hun- 
dreds of feet in extent. They are close to Sparta, the county 
site. 

Nearer the northeastern border of the county are valuable 
deposits of asbestos. 

THE COUNTIES OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. 

Augusta County, 1738, from Orange County. Comprising 
all west of the county of Frederick and west of the Blue 
Bidge. This territory, of which nearly all of the counties 
of Southwest Virginia are now composed, and our south- 
western counties, made a part of the territory alluded to 
by Gen. Washington, when he spoke of " the mountains of 
"West Augusta." 

Fincastle was formed in 1772 from Bottetourt, and was ex- 
tinguished in 1776 by the formation of Washington, Mont- 
gomery, and Kentucky counties. 

Montgomery, 1776, from Fincastle County. 

Pulaski, named after Count Pulaski, was formed in 1839, 
from Montgomery and Wythe counties. 

Wythe, 1790, from Montgomery. 

Grayson, 1793, from Wythe. 

Washington, 1776, from Fincastle County. 

Kussell, 1786, from Washington County. 



SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. — CENSUS ITEMS. 321 

Lee, 1792, from Russell County. ^ 

Tazewell, 1799, from Russell and Wythe. ^ -^ ■ 

Giles, 1806, from Monroe and Tazewell. 1^ 

Smyth, 1831, from Washington and Wythe. ^ 
Floyd, 1831, from Montgomery. 

Carroll, named after Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 1842, 
from eastern part of Grayson. 

Wise, 1855, from Lee, Scott, and Russell. 
Buchanan, 1858, from Tazewell and Russell. 
Bland, 1861, from Wythe, Tazewell, and Giles. 
Dickenson, 1880, from Buchanan and Wise. 

CENSUS ITEMS. 

Population of the counties by the census of 1880 compared 
with that of 1870, from information kindly supplied by Gen. 
Walker, Superintendent of Census : 

1880. 1870. 

Montgomery 16,693 12,556 

Pulaski 8,750 6,538 

Wythe 14,318 11,611 

Smyth 12,159 8,898 

Washington 25,203 16,816 

Giles 8,794 5,900 

Bland 5,004 4,100 

Tazewell 12,861 10,791 

Russell 13,906 11,103 

Scott 17,233 13,036 

Lee 15,116 14,100 

Wise 7,772 4,785 

Buchanan 5,694 3,775 

Floyd 13,255 12,000 

Carroll 13,323 9,147 

Grayson 13,068 9,597 

14* 



